The Last Frontier - Ladybug
by Korora12
Summary: Ruby Rose has a ship and is looking to put a crew together to do mercenary work on the frontiers of known space. Enter: Blake Belladonna. Ladybug, minor Freezerburn, Space Au
1. First Date

Finally, after years of scrimping and saving every single penny she could spare while working security for Beacon Enterprises, Ruby had finally managed to pull together enough money to buy her own spaceship. Crescent Rose wasn't a huge ship; she had enough room for a small crew of four to eight people and a decent amount of storage space, but her real strength was her faster-than-light engine that made her perfect for life on the edge of known space, far from the network of wormholes that linked the Galactic Confederacy of Kingdoms. All she needed now was a crew. Ruby's sister, Yang, had already signed on as her pilot, but she still needed at least two more people for a full crew. Fortunately, Yang had been around the block a few times and knew some folks who might be interested.

Yang had thrown together some surprisingly professional-looking dossiers on a number of people, all of whom could be good crewmates, but Ruby could tell she was pushing for two in particular. The first was Weiss Schnee, former heiress of the SDC, a corporation with a less than impressive reputation of weapons dealing, employee abuse, and anti-synthetic discrimination, amongst other things. Also, she was Yang's on-again-off-again girlfriend. The second candidate was Blake Belladonna.

Ruby recalled Blake's dossier again. The first thing that had caught her eye was that she was a Fully Automated UnNetworked Intelligent Synthetic, or FAUNIS for short. Also known as a robot, if you wanted to be politically incorrect. The cat ears atop her head were a dead giveaway; at first all FAUNIS had been built with a single, visible animal feature to distinguish them from humans. Part of it was meant to prevent them from pretending they weren't FAUNIS in public society and part of it was to degrade them and put them on the level of lesser animals. At least, that was what the records of the company that designed and created them said.

That had been almost two centuries ago, though, and since then FAUNIS had been recognized as citizens and given full rights. The animal traits had stuck around, but now they were a symbol of pride and uniqueness, intentionally separating themselves from the humans who had once created them.

Now, Ruby didn't have any problem with having a FAUNIS on her crew, but she knew there were some who would object. FAUNIS citizenship had only been granted a few years before Ruby was born, and some people, especially those living on the outskirts of society, were slow to accept change.

Still, Blake came highly recommended by Yang, so Ruby was willing to give her a shot. All that was left was to meet and interview her.

Ruby looked up at the building she stood before and did her best to suppress an eye twitch. Yang had arranged the meeting, assuring Ruby that she didn't need to worry about anything because the owner of the place owed her a favor. She'd failed to mention that said place was one of the fanciest restaurants on Vale.

Glancing down at her usual outfit (blouse, skirt, boots, gloves, and knee-length coat, all in red and black), Ruby suddenly felt underdressed.

But there was no time to change, and Ruby honestly didn't think she owned anything nice enough for this place anyway, so all she could do was muscle up and head inside.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Blake didn't know much about her potential new employer going into things. She knew she was Yang's sister, but further information was scarce. Still, it said something that their first meeting was to be held at The Solstice, so Blake had tried to dress for the occasion.

Ruby Rose, it seemed, hadn't bothered to do the same, which had the unintended, or so she assumed, consequence of making her very easy to spot. She looked… dusty? It was a strange descriptor, but it was the first one that popped into Blake's mind once she got a good look at her. Not in a bad way, she just looked like she would be more at home in the dirt and grime of the outside world than she did sitting in a chair surrounded by people in fancy dress. If pressed, Blake would say she looked to be in her late-20's, but she was notoriously bad at guessing the age of humans.

She did her best to walk confidently as a waiter led her to Ruby's table. She'd never been in a restaurant so extravagant before. It was quieter than similar places she'd been, with a violinist and pianist duo performing live for the patrons. A quick survey revealed that she was the only FAUNIS in the building.

Ruby stood when they got close and held out her hand. "You must be Blake. I'm Ruby Rose. But you already knew that, because Yang probably told you. Um, it's really nice to meet you, and I hope we can work well together. Not that that's a guarantee yet, this is still the interview phase, but–"

Blake took the offered hand and shook it, cutting of the woman's awkward outburst. "It's nice to meet you too." From up close, the one thing that caught her attention the most was Ruby's eyes. They were silver, a rare color amongst humans, and she couldn't help but stare. She watched the eyes as they ran down her own form, then back up and off to the side.

Ruby gestured at the table, a bit of red entering her cheeks. "Let's sit." The waiter gave them their menus, then quietly disappeared.

Ruby began looking through her menu, a furrow slowly appearing in her brow. "No pictures or descriptions? I'm not even sure what some of things are. Sorry if this place is too much; I would have chosen something more low-key myself, but Yang set it up and I didn't realize until I got here what kind of restaurant this was."

Blake let herself smile. Knowing Yang, she probably had ulterior motives for doing something like that. "I'll admit, it doesn't really line up with the job I'm being offered."

"Right! The job!" Ruby looked up, then paused. "You haven't opened your menu. Aren't you going to eat?"

Crap. Blake had gotten so distracted watching Ruby that she'd forgotten. She ran her finger along the laminated edge of the menu in contemplation. She still wasn't completely set on taking this job, not until she had a better idea of what was expected of her and, more importantly, what kind of person she'd be working for. The fact that she was Yang's sister put pints in her favor, but one could never be too sure. Perhaps this was a good opportunity for a test?

"I'm only a robot," Blake said, trying not to let the sarcasm color her voice too much. The word tasted sour on her tongue, but she forced herself to continue. "I don't eat. Just plug me into a generator and I'll be fine."

Now Ruby looked offended. "You're not the first FAUNIS I've met, Blake. I know you don't _need_ to eat, but I also know you can. And every FAUNIS I've talked to about it prefers eating to not." Her face shifted from offended to considering. "Still, if you'd prefer, we can take this interview somewhere else. I think there's a park nearby."

Blake shook her head and opened her menu, glad that Ruby had passed her first test. "No, this is fine."

Silence settled over the pair as they took their time deciding on their orders. Moments before the silence became awkward, Ruby glanced across the table and half-muttered, "It might not be my place to say, and I'm sorry if I'm overstepping any boundaries here, but I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't call yourself that word. It makes me uncomfortable to hear it."

Blake quirked an eyebrow. Ruby was right, it really wasn't her place to ask that of her. "Ashamed of your people's history?"

Ruby shrugged one shoulder. "That's part of it, I guess. But like I said, you're not the first FAUNIS I've known. I've seen some terrible things firsthand, things I'd rather not be reminded of."

Blake recognized the look of far-off guilt in her companion's eyes. She hadn't expected that from her. She wasn't going to apologize, but she supposed she could offer some concession. "I'm not fond of the word myself," she agreed. Considering it traced its origins to an old word for slave, she could only wonder why anyone would be.

At that moment the waiter approached to take their orders and the topic was dropped.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"So, the job," Ruby began, trying her best to focus on the interview, and not on the gorgeous woman in a slim black dress sitting across from her. It was difficult, though, to not be distracted by the gleam of her eyes, a deep gold that practically shone in the low lighting, nor by the way her long, red nails traced patterns on her jawline whenever she was lost in thought. "Yang probably told you some stuff about it already."

Blake nodded. "Freelance mercenary work on the frontiers of space."

"One place in particular," Ruby corrected. "The Draconis system. It's a binary system that's becoming really popular as a waypoint between Kingdom space and uncharted space. Apparently it's close to a bunch of other systems that show promise for habitability or resources, so a lot of spacers, explorers, and surveyors pass through, which means lots of potential for escort jobs. Plus there'll be people planetside trying to set up new towns, and those kinds of people always need work done."

"Sounds like the kind of place that won't be frontier in another decade or two."

"Maybe," Ruby agreed. "But there's opportunity there now."

Blake ran her finger in circles over the table. Ruby hoped that meant she was considering the offer, and not that she was already bored. "So when you say mercenary, you really mean odd-jobber."

"Well, when you put it like that…" Ruby trailed off. "I mean, I'm sure there'll be some fighting. If nothing else, there's always Grimm." Grimm were an unfortunate reality of space travel, but they made steady work for anyone with the know-how and tools to fight them.

"Of course," Blake agreed. "So what would my role on your crew be?"

"Yang and I grew up in a small town on Patch." Ruby gestured vaguely upwards, where the moon in question would be hiding behind the roof. "It was in the country, sure, but that's not the same as where we're headed now. But I'm told you have experience living on the frontier."

Blake nodded. "That's true. I've spent almost half my life out there."

"That's what Yang said. She didn't give me any details, though," Ruby prodded, fishing for more information.

Blake leaned back in her seat. "As I'm sure you can guess, I'm originally from Kuo Kuana. I'm a member of Generation Prime, the first generation of FAUNIS made after our liberation. My…" She tapped a finger against her cheek. "Parents? Valean doesn't have the best word for it. How much do you know about FAUNIS childhoods?"

"Well," Ruby said, "I know it's a lot shorter than a human's. You're made in factories, pre-programmed with a lot of things humans have to learn, like language and object permanence. Most of your childhood is spent learning about how the world works, like culture and physics and social interaction. I'm guessing your parents are the people who raised you?"

"Sort of," Blake agreed. "Culture back home is very community-focused. An entire town or village will come together to raise new FAUNIS as a group, but most of them were more mentors than anything else. My parents were the ones who took me in and shared their home with me.

"They were involved a lot in building and spreading FAUNIS civilization and trying to claim political independence for the Menagerie System. So I spent a lot of my childhood in the middle of nowhere, helping build new towns and villages from the ground up. It's hard work and I'm pretty familiar with the challenges it raises."

"Excellent!" Ruby declared, perhaps a bit too loudly. "That expertise is why I want you on my ship."

Blake made a wordless noise of understanding, then settled into silence. Ruby wasn't ready to push her on joining just yet, they had plenty of time before a decision had to be made. Before that happened, she wanted to get to know this woman a bit better. "So it sounds like you were doing good work back in Menagerie. What brought you out here?"

If Ruby hadn't been watching Blake's hands so much, she wouldn't have noticed when they briefly tensed. After a moment, she began speaking slowly. "Some friends and I disagreed with the elders about how best to fight for our independence. We gathered together and took our protests to Vytal and, when the Confederation capital wasn't enough, to the capital planets of the four Kingdoms. That's how I ended up on Vale."

"I heard about some of those protests," Ruby said. "Certain terrorist groups notwithstanding, it was pretty impressive what you were guys were doing and the progress you were making. Why stop?"

Blake took her time answering that. "It wasn't working. Things weren't improving fast enough. Some of my friends wanted to change our methods, but they were going too far and when I couldn't convince them to stop, I backed out. I spent some time homeless, with nothing but a portable, solar-powered generator for food. Then I met Yang, and she helped me find a job and a place to stay."

Yang hadn't ever told Ruby that part of the story. Granted, Ruby had never asked, but she always assumed the two had met through her work or at a bar or something.

Ruby considered her answer carefully before continuing. "So, why this job, then? After everything you've done, it's kind of a change of pace to disappear to the edge of known space."

"Honestly?" Blake folded her arms on the table and leaned forward. "Because I don't know what I want anymore. I used to think I knew the best way to fight; that if we just passed one more law or held the right police officer or official responsible for their actions, we'd eventually win. But I don't know anymore. I still care about the fight, I still want to make things better for my people, but I've realized I have no idea how to do that. I think I need to take a break from it all, get some distance. Then maybe I can come back to the problem later with new answers."

It made sense, if you looked at it from the right angle, but Ruby wasn't convinced there wasn't more to it. Still, she knew when not to push a subject, so instead of pushing for more, she said, "I've been told the frontier is a good place to go to find answers about yourself."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Blake wasn't sure why she was being so open with Ruby. It was easy, somehow, to just be honest with this woman. Almost scarily easy. She changed the subject before she said too much.

"What about you, Captain? What drives someone to spend all her money on a ship, all so she can fly to the middle of nowhere looking for the possibility of work?"

"Well," Ruby said, "it sounds like fun, doesn't it? I mean, I've always wanted to help people. I used to read stories about dashing rogues, bounty hunters and heroic pirates who swooped in to save the day, only to fly off into the sunset afterwards. I'd imagine I was them, wandering around until I found someone who needed help. I worked at Beacon for a while, fighting Grimm and the occasional raiding party, and that helped people. Mostly rich people, though. Working a weekly shift on a space station orbiting a wormhole doesn't exactly feel very heroic, you know? I think I can do more good out on the edge of the unknown, where the world is mysterious and magical and anything can happen."

She wanted to be a hero? It was a noble goal, but still, "The world isn't kind to heroes. Sometimes you do everything you can to make the world a better place, but it isn't enough. No matter how hard you try to stand up or stand out, the world will keep beating you back into the hole it put you in." Blake's pulse was racing. She could be ruining her chances at getting this job, a job she still wasn't sure she wanted, but she couldn't stop the words from escaping her. It felt like she'd been bottling these things up for years, and now this woman, this girl, wanted to talk about heroics like it was so easy. "It's not fun or romantic. It takes the effort of ages to make meaningful change. Heroes carry the weight of the world on their backs until it breaks them, heart, body, and soul. Then that weight will twist you into something no one will recognize anymore."

Her hands hurt. She glanced down to where they rested on the table. A light bronze fluid leaked slowly from where her nails pressed tightly into her palms.

Ruby reached for her hands, pausing a hair's breadth away. A moment of hesitation passed in silence before she gently grasped them, turned them upwards, and unfurled her fingers. Blake let her do so without resistance.

"That doesn't mean you don't try." Ruby began dabbing Blake's palms with her napkin, cleaning her outer layer as it stitched itself back together. "I know real life rarely lines up with stories. I know change usually comes slowly, and isn't always for the better. I know trying your best doesn't always mean you'll succeed. But there's value in the effort. Sometimes it takes coordinated effort from millions of people to make things better, but sometimes it just takes one person. Heroes exist, but they aren't the giant, glorious figures that stories paint them as. A hero is someone who does the right thing in the right place at the right time." Blake's palms were clean and the only sign of her injuries was one very dirty napkin, but Ruby still hadn't let go. "That's what I want, to be where I can do the right thing and know it'll leave an impact. And yes, I want to have fun in the meantime. The universe is a beautiful place full of amazing things and I want to appreciate that. But at the end of the day, I'll always pick helping someone in need over enjoying myself."

Ruby's hands were covered in hardened calluses that spoke of experience and toil and lent weight to her words. Even so, it felt like the two of them were having different conversations. She didn't understand where Blake was coming from any more than Blake understood Ruby.

And yet, the way she talked sparked familiarity. She sounded like _he_ did, back before he changed. She had a powerful passion tampered beneath a layer of certainty about how the world worked. She had the answers and she knew it. But the answers were different this time, and Blake found herself preferring Ruby's definition of a hero over the one she'd learned so long ago.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Blake was impressive. For all that she tried to deride heroism, she was already a hero in Ruby's books. By her own admission, she'd spent most of her life fighting for FAUNIS rights in whatever ways she could. All the while, Ruby had been living a mostly comfortable life in one of the nicest cities in the known galaxy. Ruby could only dream of being half as amazing.

The pair sat together quietly, Blake seemingly lost in thought and Ruby unsure what else to say, until the waiter returned with their food.

The conversation that followed was much lighter than their pre-meal talk. They shared stories and anecdotes from their past, starting with Yang, who was a good source of stories for anyone who knew her, and continuing on from there to talk about other friends they'd known. They discovered a shared love of reading and discussed, and eventually argued, the finer points of a book they'd both read. Blake even returned to the topic of her family after a while, and Ruby returned the gesture by talking about her father and uncle, who'd raised her ever since her mother died when she was young.

It was fun, and Ruby found herself enjoying the night far more than she expected from a job interview. Blake was surprisingly easy to talk to, despite how reserved she'd initially appeared.

So of course, just when things were going well, someone had to show up and ruin it.

As the night crept onward and the pair's meals slowly disappeared, a man and his date were seated at the table next to them, both dressed to the nines. The two had been a bit rude to the waiter while ordering, but for the most part they'd been quiet enough that Ruby hadn't been bothered by them.

Then, when their plates were nearly empty, the man reached over and grabbed Blake's arm. "Excuse me," he said, plastic smile pinned to his face, "could you go tell the kitchen staff to hurry with our food? We've been waiting for twenty minutes already."

Blake blinked in surprise, jarred from her tale of a particularly memorable protest she'd taken part in. Ruby's stomach churned preemptively in disgust at what she was about to witness, while Blake grabbed the man's wrist and pulled it off her. "Ask a waiter, I don't work here."

Ruby was impressed at how calm Blake sounded.

"Don't give me that." The man's smiled slipped off, an ugly sneer taking its place. "I can see that you're taking a break to talk with your friend, but you still have a job to do. It's time to get back to work."

"I told you," Blake responded, ice creeping into her voice, "I don't work here. I'm a customer."

"Liar!" the man shouted. Then he did the unthinkable. His hand lashed out and grabbed  
Blake by her cat ear. Ruby, already rising from her chair to interfere, froze in shock. "There's no way they'd let someone like you in here. You don't even _need _to eat! The only way you'd get in here is as an employ—"

Blake's shock wore off faster than Ruby's, and she chose to respond with her fist. Said response left the man on the ground, blood leaking from his nose. "DON'T," she added, "touch me."

The man's date moved to interfere, but Ruby suddenly found she could move again, so she grabbed their wrist and twisted hard.

"What is going on?!" A woman in a manager's uniform marched towards them.

"That thing attacked me!" the man shouted from his spot on the floor. "I want it fired, no, scrapped!"

The woman gave Blake a once-over, then turned back to the man. "_She_ doesn't work here. She's a customer."

The man's face turned so red it almost matched the blood on his upper lip. "Covering for your co-worker, huh? I'll have you know I'm friends with the owner of this place. I can have you all fired!"

The woman's already unpleasant gaze hardened even more. "I _am_ the owner and I've never met you before in my life." She pointed her finger towards Ruby. "Meanwhile, her sister _is_ a friend of mine, which makes these two very important customers whose night you've just ruined. I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

If the man got any angrier, Ruby suspected he'd burst a blood vessel. "How dare you treat me like this! Don't you know who I am?"

"No," the owner replied. "And I don't care. But if you don't leave now, you can tell the police who you are while they arrest you for trespassing."

After a moment spent glaring at everyone he could see – Blake, Ruby, the manager the wait staff, the other customers who were watching silently – the man picked himself up and stormed towards the door. Ruby released his date and they silently followed.

The music, which had cut out at some point during the altercation, started up again. No one stood. No one applauded. Everyone just turned their heads away from the show and back to their meals.

"I am _so_ sorry about that," the owner said, bowing at the waist. "Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"

Blake shook her head, ears flat against her skull. "Let's go, Ruby."

Ruby was glad Blake was including her, that she hadn't walked out and left on her own. She glanced at their mostly-finished meals. "Do you want to get a to-go container?"

"No. I don't want to be here anymore."

"I understand," the owner said. "Please, tell Yang I still owe her. A night like this doesn't make up for anything."

Ruby promised she would, then turned to follow Blake, who was already making for the door.

Once they were outside Blake sighed, tension slowly draining from her frame. The two stood together by the entrance, faint music from within occasionally drowned out by the sound of passing cars.

Blake was the first to speak. "Pretty terrible way to end the night, huh?"

"Yeah," Ruby agreed. Things had been going so well, too, right up until that jerk showed up. Blake didn't just interest Ruby as a crewmate anymore. She was a fascinating woman in her own right and Ruby had been enjoying getting to know her. For the last few years nearly all her time and money had been put towards saving up for her ship and preparing to leave Vale. Nights like this were rare, and the company even rarer. Ruby found that she didn't want to go home just yet. "It doesn't have to be."

Blake glanced down at her, a question in her eyes. Standing next to her now, Ruby realized for the first time how much taller Blake was than her.

"The end, I mean!" Ruby tore her brain away from distracting thoughts. "It doesn't have to be the end. I'm pretty sure there's a bar nearby that serves amrita." Her hands had a bad habit of flailing every-which-way when she got nervous and she could already feel them starting to fidget. "We could head there. You could finish the story you started. I mean, I understand if you just wanted to go home after that. And the interview's basically over anyway. The job's yours if you want it, but you don't have to decide yet, you can get back to me tomorrow. But I was having a lot of fun talking with you and I kind of didn't want the night to end just yet and—"

Blake interrupted her by gently grabbing one of her waving arms and wrapping her own around it. "That sounds lovely. Lead on?"

Ruby felt her face warm as she nodded.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Amrita was a magnetic fluid with zero nutritional value and, usually, no effect on humans. The qedem of Mistral and the materia of Atlas both found the drink more annoying than anything, as it set off their natural magnetoreception. The only people who regularly drank it were FAUNIS, for whom it had an affect similar to alcohol in humans, so any bar that served amrita drinks was usually assumed to be FAUNIS-friendly. Blake was pleasantly surprised to find such a bar in the same upscale commercial area as the Solstice.

The place was cleaner than most dives she'd spent time in, but just as loud and just as rowdy; she'd had to adjust her hearing settings before she'd even stepped in the door. She was also pleased to find she wasn't the only FAUNIS in the room anymore. The two of them found a spot at the bar between a boy with rabbit ears and a girl with a snake tail.

The drinks helped relax her and, with a little prompting from Ruby, she soon found herself venting her frustrations to a captive audience. Spirits flowed and spirits rose and Blake was, once again, enjoying her night.

Blake's mind was cloudy by the time she and her drinking partner stumbled outside, supporting each other's weight while trying to call for cabs. She knew already that she wouldn't be able to remember everything that had happened that night, but she hoped she'd remember the important things. Like how Ruby had jumped to her aid in the restaurant. Or how easily and often she smiled.

It worried Blake how much Ruby reminded her of _him_ at times. Blake had been the one to start the violence in the restaurant, but Ruby had joined in easily, clearly familiar with the concept. And sure, Ruby had been kind to her. She was attentive and open-minded and intelligent. But he'd been all those things once, too.

But still, there was something different about her.

With the two of them so close, neither fully able to stand on their own, Blake couldn't help but notice that Ruby smelled like roses. Once upon a time, that scent would've brought with it memories of violence and undirected rage. But now, faded by time and distance, thoughts of that man didn't hurt as much. Instead, being with this woman left her feeling calm and safe.

There was still a decision to be made. Except, looking back over the night, Blake realized she'd already made it, even if she couldn't say exactly when.

"I had a lot of fun tonight," Ruby murmured as she helped Blake into the first cab. "Especially with the karaoke machine. I didn't expect you to be into deathcore, but you rocked it."

Blake's motor functions were on the fritz at the moment, but in the process of getting her seatbelt on, she managed to slip her hand into Ruby's. "Me too. This was the best night I've had in years. Even with what's-his-face."

Ruby grinned and Blake cursed the amrita for messing with her coolant system because her head kept getting warmer. "I hope you take me up on my offer. I really don't want this to be goodbye."

Ruby squeezed her hand once more before squeezing out of the car and closing the door.

"Wait!" Blake shouted, rolling down the window. "One last question before I go, Captain." A glimmer of hope lit up Ruby's eyes. "When do we leave?"


	2. Bedtime Stories

Grimm. Monsters of nightmare, of bedtime stories meant to scare children. Behave, little Tenny, or the creatures of grimm will fall from the sky and eat you. No one knows where they come from or even how they function since grimm fade and dissolve upon death.

What is known is this: they are the greatest danger any space-faring civilization will face. Grimm move freely through space without need of a ship or air, their black bodies invisible against the void and only small white masks reveal their presence. Their method of moving through space so quickly is a mystery. It's unknown what they eat, or even if they need sustenance. They don't seem to be intelligent; at the least, no one has ever been able to communicate with them. Where there is one grimm, you can be sure there are more, and their only goal seems to be the eradication of intelligent life throughout the galaxy.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Today was just not Ruby's day. What started as a simple escort job for a crateship carrying raw construction materials to Draconis 3, known locally as Eltanin, had quickly gone south when a spawner appeared from nowhere. Spawners were massive grimm that ranged in size from football field to small island nation and did exactly as their name implied; they spawned more, smaller grimm. Ruby thanked the stars that the one that had appeared, vaguely whale-shaped and covered in tentacles, was only a little larger than the crateship they were guarding. They would've stood no chance against an alpha spawner.

Crescent Rose was fast, agile, and deadly, which made her perfect for dealing with the smaller grimm, and thankfully she wasn't alone. A second ship, the Crocea Mors, had also been hired for the job. She was an old ship, old enough that she would've fit better in a museum than out in space, but she'd been well-maintained and still seemed to function well. She was much slower than Crescent Rose, but her heavier weapons let her crew unleashed hell on the spawner directly.

Still, two ships against an effectively infinite stream of grimm was not good odds, and the numbers began to take their toll. Crocea Mors couldn't stay on the spawner long enough to do any real damage to it without getting swarmed, and every time Crescent Rose swooped in to pick some grimm off her hide, they were forced to leave the crateship wide open. During one such run, grimm had managed to break into the crateship through a side window. The area had been sealed off from the vacuum of space, but not before several dozen of the creatures had boarded the ship.

Ruby had made the decision to dock with the crateship to protect the crew; Jaune would just have to make do without them for a bit.

Yang had stayed on Crescent Rose, taking control of her many guns and pointing their firing AI at any grimm that drew close. Ruby, Blake, and Weiss had rendezvoused with the crateship's small crew, then started hunting grimm on foot.

Since this was their first real battle together, Ruby made sure to keep an eye on how her crewmates fought. She herself had brought her lazrifle onboard; her ballistic rifle would've been more effective against the grimm, but it was also more likely to blow a hole in the ship walls. Each pull of the trigger caused a small explosion of heat and light wherever she pointed, but only a sustained pulse would be able to tear through a space ship's thick, coated walls. With a sixteen-centimeter bayonet attached to the end, her gun was nearly as long as she was tall, but Ruby was far too familiar with its heft for that to hinder her.

While Ruby held back and mowed down grimm with near-perfect aim, Weiss was the first to rush in to the fray. She was a materia, a silicon-based species made of light-generating crystals who had made their home on the planet Atlas. Weiss in particular looked like someone had carved a human out of white diamond or glass. Their bodies, though usually mobile, were extremely hard, allowing her to fight grimm up close without worry.

Watching Weiss fight made it obvious why Yang was so smitten with her. She wielded a thin sword and lazpistol in tandem, and the way she moved was like art in motion. One wouldn't expect a creature of stone to flow like water, but she managed to do just that as she danced between opponents, blade flashing and gun firing. She wore a pair of modded magboots that let her glide across the floor without lifting her feet and could send her shooting towards an opponent like a particularly pointy missile.

Following in her shadow was Blake. Weapons wielded in opposite hands and blade a bit broader, she was nonetheless similarly equipped as Weiss, but the way she fought set her apart. Where Weiss had danced, Blake instead flew. Her naturally high strength and reflexes were further heightened by selectively overclocking certain internal systems, causing her to move almost too fast to follow. Ruby had very good eyes, but it seemed the grimm were not so lucky as they fell to her sword and gun as easily as they did to Weiss' as she leapt and bounded through their numbers.

The trio was making short work of the grimm when the entire ship suddenly shook. Ruby immediately hit her helmet's comm. "What was that?"

"Are you kidding?" Yang's voiced rang in her ear, tinged with panic. "Try looking outside!"

The sounds of battle faded as Blake and Weiss finished clearing out the hallway. "We're not near a window. Tell me what's going on."

"The spawner just latched on to the crateship. I had to break loose to avoid being crushed."

A new voice joined their channel. "We've lowered the barricades on all the windows and airlocks," Captain Braun, the man in charge of the crateship, said. "Most of the breached areas are blocked off, but the site of the initial breach is still unresponsive. Atmosphere is dropping in the areas ahead of you, and if they get much further, we'll start losing our shipment."

"Jaune has an idea for destroying the spawner," Ren chimed in next, "but we're going to need some help to line up the shot."

"Right." Ruby's mind whirled. The situation might be different, but what needed to be done was still the same. "Yang, rendezvous with Crocea Mors and give them whatever help they need to kill that thing. Captain Braun, close off the areas behind us. I don't want this ship to completely depressurize if they break through."

"You risk getting trapped if I do that."

As the only member of the boarding party that couldn't last for hours in the vacuum of space, Ruby was equipped with a skintight spacesuit, an oxygen tank, and a helmet, all worn under a large red cloak. "I've got three hours of oxygen. That should be plenty of time to clean up and get everyone inside before I run out."

Ruby could hear heavy metal walls slam down behind her. She pressed a button on her helmet and it fabricated a clear visor before her eyes, sealing her off completely. It cut her off from most sound, but her crew was fluent in Atlesian Sign Language. "Let's go," she signed.

The trio continued down the hallway, more barricades dropping behind them as they went, until they finally reached their goal. At the end of the hall were a pair of massive metal doors partitioning them away from the gaping hole in the ship that Ruby knew was on the other side. Unfortunately for them all, a lot of grimm had made it through before the barriers came down, and some were still there, trying to pry it open. A loud bang on the door suggested there were yet more grimm still waiting to pile through.

Ruby attacked first, using the advantages of surprise and range to take out three grimm before they realized what was happening. One, a round thing held aloft by long, spindly legs, fired a series of white spines from its back. Blake deflected several with her sword while Weiss and Ruby let them shatter harmlessly against their skin and cloak respectively.

The spider-like grimm was already dissolving, courtesy of Ruby's crackshot aim, by the time Blake and Weiss closed the distance between them. The battle was over in under a minute.

Ruby activated her comm, speaking into the silence of her helmet. "That clears up the grimm that got through. Now as long as the doors hold we'll be—" She was cut off by a loud clang as both doors shook violently.

"Ruby," Weiss signed, managing to get her point across despite both her hands still carrying her weapons, "please stop talking before you get us all killed."

The trio backed away from the doors as they shook again. "Activate magboots," Ruby signed. The women managed to stick themselves to the floor just in time for a fourth strike to tear a hole between the doors. Ruby's cloak whipped around her as all the air in the hall suddenly decided it wanted to be outside. The onrushing air pressure bent one of the doors at an angle, widening the gap further.

Small, tube-shaped grimm, each no bigger than a small dog, began pouring through the opening in droves. They were covered in legs, as many jutting upwards as facing the ground, and each leg was tipped with tiny claws sharp enough to dig into the metal floor and pull them forward in spite of the onrushing air. At their size even a lazpistol could do enough damage to kill one with a well-placed shot, but there were so many they threatened to overwhelm them through sheer numbers.

The airflow cut out before the invading grimm managed to fill the space between them, leaving the room depressurized and its occupants free to move again. "Spread out," Ruby signed, and her crewmates obeyed. Before the grimm could spread in response, she leaned over into a runner's crouch, gun held tightly in both hands. Lines on her suit began to glow before the world blurred passed her.

Cybernetic enhancements in her legs, coupled with further enhancements in her boots, put Ruby's top speed somewhere around 100 kilometers per hour while on the surface of Vale. With no air resistance, on a ship with lower gravity, Ruby topped out closer to 200.

Grimm scattered as she sped through them; she lowered her bayonet blade into their numbers, further spreading her range of destruction. With a slam of her legs she leapt high enough to bounce off the ceiling, bleeding off momentum with the help of gravity, then came to a complete stop by landing feet first in a puddle of ex-grimm directly in front of the open doors. Her crimson cloak settled around her, long enough to reach the ground and protect her from the claws of any grimm she missed.

Ruby took a moment, as her crew began picking off the stragglers, to take a look inside. Or perhaps it was outside now. Whatever purpose this room had once served, it wouldn't be able to return to the task anytime soon. Most of the outer wall was gone. Remnants of window frames hinted at its previous shape, but they had largely been ripped away. In their place was a giant tentacle as wide across as the room was tall. A large chunk of flesh was missing from the end of it, no doubt repurposed into the attacking grimm.

Had the tentacle been responsible for breaking open the door? Much of the room was still blocked off from her angle, but if she could poke her head through quickly, she might get a better read on what they were facing.

Her comm sprung to life in her ear. "Ruby, look out!" Blake shouted.

She was already backpedaling before she could see why. A massive hand, black as night, grabbed the side of the bent door. Another one joined it, then two more. A great heave peeled the door from the wall, revealing the creature behind it.

Even hunched over as it was, the grimm's head brushed against the ceiling. It's bone-white mask, bulbous, mouthless, and misshapen, sat squarely between the shoulders of four pillars of muscles that might be called arms. Its furred torso, as wide as it was tall, rested atop four squat legs that spread in each direction for balance.

It tossed the door aside and charged.

Ruby's crew was already moving before it reached them. Blake leapt straight up, slashing repeatedly at its torso as she rose, then ricocheted off its shoulder. Turning in midair, she began unloading her lazpistol into its mask as she flew backwards. Ruby put distance between herself and the monster and, the moment Blake was clear, started taking shots at its elbows, wrists, and shoulders. Weiss dashed around its feet, tearing gouges and jabbing holes in its legs and knees.

The creature kicked out a foot at Weiss, three stubby toes latching on to her and slamming her into the ground. A brief flash of purplish-white shone from inside her; the equivalent of a scream of pain for a species that spoke with light instead of sound.

Blake was already hurdling towards her, having bounced off a wall to redirect her flight, when she saw her scream. A full-force flying slash severed one of the toes, giving Weiss enough room to stab upwards into the sole pinning her down. The grimm flinched backwards and Weiss was able to free herself. Blake grabbed her arm to help her up, and neither seemed to notice as the monster raised two fists to the ceiling.

Not enough time to warn them via comm, Ruby instead did the only thing she could think of to get them out of harm's way. She dashed forward at high speed, grabbing both of her crewmates as she passed, narrowly avoiding its falling fists and skidding to a stop in the room beyond their foe.

Blake gingerly rubbed her side where Ruby had grabbed her, but nodded her thanks anyway.

The grimm struggled to turn its oversized bulk in their direction, buying them a little time. "We're wearing it down," Ruby signed. "If we keep attacking it from different angles it should have trouble keeping up with us. Stay in motion and don't lose focus."

Before either woman could respond, the room began to shake. Ruby's eyes widened in shock as she had a sudden realization. She'd zeroed in too much on the giant grimm attacking them that she'd forgotten to account for the spawner tentacle still protruding into the room. She'd assumed, based on experience, that it'd used up so much mass making their current foe that it wouldn't be able to spawn more grimm for a while. She'd failed to consider that it could still attack them directly before she rushed them all into its range. It had no way to sense their exact location, Ruby was pretty sure of that, but that didn't stop it from flailing wildly until it hit them.

She wrapped her cloak tightly around herself and hoped it would hold up. Weiss was zipping along the ground, dodging the writhing tentacle as best she could. And Blake…

Ruby's heart stopped beating as she watched Blake misjudge a jump and take the full force of the spawner straight on. She hit the wall and didn't bounce back.

Ruby screamed Blake's name and it echoed in her ears.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The world was dark when Blake reactivated. She lay in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room. A warm breeze blew through an open window, carrying with it the scent of flowers and grain. She was on a planet, then, which didn't square up with her most recent memory of being thrown against a wall by a Grimm. Sitting at the side of her bed, head in her arms and seemingly asleep, was one Ruby Rose.

She was still wearing her spacesuit and cloak, with signs of helmet hair clear atop her head, despite the fact that Blake's internal clock told her over a day had passed. A book lay half-open by her side, next to her discarded helmet.

Blake shifted in the bed and Ruby bolted upright. "Blake! You're awake!" Her silver eyes were rimmed red, adding to her bedraggled look. "Thank goodness, I was so worried."

"Hey." A quick self-diagnostic revealed that most of the damage she'd suffered had been repaired. But still she wondered, "What happened? Is the crateship and crew okay?"

Ruby nodded while rubbing some sleep from her eye. She spoke in a quiet tone, more reserved than her usual cheer. "Yeah. Jaune's plan worked. Yang says he had a mass driver that launched high-yield explosives straight into the spawner's mouth. Blew it to smithereens. After that it was just clean up. Most of the Grimm retreated, and Weiss and I were able to kill the one on the ship and get you back to Crescent Rose." Her hand dropped back to the bed. "But you were hurt really bad, more than Weiss could fix on her own, so we took you to a hospital once we got to Eltanin."

Blake looked around the room she was in. It most certainly did _not_ look like a hospital room. It looked more like someone's house. She had a pretty good idea how the rest of the story went.

Ruby balled the bedsheets between her fists. She continued, "when we got to the hospital, they wouldn't even look at you. They said…" she broke off, looking away. "Well it doesn't matter what they said. It's not worth repeating. Yang was ready to start threatening people if they didn't admit you until one of the doctors pointed us towards a clinic in a nearby town." She shook her head as if trying to clear it. "How could they do that? Just turn away someone in need?"

"It's unfortunately common," Blake answered, though she suspected the question had been rhetorical. "Hospitals aren't legally required to have someone on staff who's familiar with FAUNIS biology. Without anyone who can give the proper care, they're allowed to turn us away."

"It's not right." Blake could see tears forming in the corners of Ruby's eyes. "You could have died. And they were going to let it happen. People like that…" she trailed off, not finishing the thought aloud.

Blake placed her hand over Ruby's, pressing down until they finally unfurled. She understood Ruby's anger viscerally; she'd felt it herself more than once.

When Ruby met her eyes again, her voice was quiet and plaintive, begging for an answer. "Are these the people we're out here trying to protect?"

It was a difficult question. Blake couldn't deny that she resented those sorts of people. But she'd also seen where that resentment could lead if left unchecked. "There are good people too, who do deserve protection." She waved her hand around. "Who was it who took us in?"

Some of the visible tension began to leave Ruby's shoulders. "Dr. Zong. He's a FAUNIS too. Most of the town is, from the looks of it."

Blake left Ruby to her thoughts. This was an important moment, but Ruby had to figure out for herself what it meant. It was easy to go from "these people willfully and cruelly hurt me" to "they don't deserve my protection" to "the world would be better off without certain people in it". She'd started down that path once, and getting off it had cost her dearly. She didn't want Ruby to suffer the same way.

To be honest, Blake's brush with near-death bothered her a bit as well. Diagnostic logs showed that a crack had formed in her core matrix, the one part of a FAUNIS's body that wasn't replaceable. Repairing it would've required careful application of properly programmed nanobots, which a hospital not set up for treating FAUNIS likely wouldn't have had. If left unchecked, the damage could've worsened, causing loss of memory, personality, or even identity.

So the pair sat in silence for a while, until Ruby at last broke it. "I'm sorry." She turned her hand over, wrapping her fingers around Blake's. "I've seen racism before, but it was different this time. I was so scared that you might not wake up. The thought that I might never get to see you again… I wasn't even that scared when the spawner showed up, but from the moment you hit the wall and didn't get up, I wasn't able to think straight."

There was something more here. Something Blake was supposed to say. Ruby was important to her, Blake knew that much. Even though she'd only known her for a couple months, Blake found herself drawn towards her captain in a way that wasn't entirely unfamiliar.

She'd told herself at first that her interest was only in trying to prevent Ruby from turning out like_ that man_. But the more she got to know this woman, the more certain she became that the similarities she'd noticed were only surface similarities. At their cores they were drastically different people.

And anyway, getting things right with Ruby wouldn't make up for or undo her past failures.

Despite that, there was still a definite attraction there, but it wasn't the sort of thing Blake was ready to put a name to. So instead she said, "Thank you," and hoped it was enough. She squeezed Ruby's hand with her own, then pulled it back.

"Of course," Ruby replied.

Unable to meet her captain's eyes, Blake's sight instead fell on the book splayed out on the bed nearby. "Did you fall asleep while reading?"

A hint of pink touched Ruby's cheeks. She picked up the book, gently straightening creased pages before shutting it fully. "It's an old adventure novel my dad used to read me to help me sleep. I thought you might like it, so I was reading to you. Not that you probably heard any of it. Is that okay?"

"Of course," Blake said, parroting Ruby's earlier words. "Are there any grimm in it?"

"Completely grimm-free. It's a fantasy story about a married couple, a historian and an archaeologist, who discover an ancient civilization and are changed by its unknown magics."

"Sounds interesting. Do you want to keep reading it to me?"

Ruby's face lit up with a grin as she flipped back to the first page. Blake did her best to stay awake, listening as a story filled the air between them, but doing so proved difficult. The air was warm, the bed was soft, and Ruby was nearby. Before the first chapter was done, she'd turned once more to the land of dreams.


	3. Love Letters

Blake was quickly discovering exactly how much she disliked cows. They were smelly, they were loud, and there was currently an entire herd of them packed into Crescent Rose's storage bay.

The only relief was that their new passengers were a temporary addition. They'd been hired by a human farmer to ship most of his possessions, as well as his wife and children, from Eltanin to the nearby planet Rastaban. Which meant that their storage bay was filled with cars, tractors, bags of seeds, grain and other stored foods, animal feed, a dog, and 37 of the dumbest animals to ever crawl out of an ocean.

The entire situation might have been a bit more tolerable if Blake hadn't been stuck in the hold with them, making sure they stayed out of trouble. She sat on the stairwell to the second level and side-eyed the dog she shared a job with. The two had reached a cautious truce, but she still didn't trust it completely.

Footsteps above her had her turning her head just in time to catch the family's eldest son begin descending the stairs towards her.

"Evening," he greeted. "Or, at least, I think it's evening." He wrung his hands nervously, but spoke clearly, albeit with an accent. "Mind if I join you?"

Blake waved silently at the empty stairwell. He hesitated, then took a seat. Blake let the silence stretch. This boy had come to her; if he wanted something he'd have to take the initiative himself.

Finally, he spoke. "So, um, you and your captain seem pretty close."

Blake hadn't been sure what to expect from her visitor, but that certainly surprised her. Her mind was racing, going back over her interactions with Ruby over the past day and trying to figure out what he'd seen. Synthetic/organic relationships rarely saw any positive treatment so far from the Confederacy capitals, and young men often felt the need to correct perceived wrongs. She was careful not to let any of this show on her face, though. "I don't see how my relationship with my crewmates is any concern of yours," she rebuked.

"Of course," he said, head bowed. "I didn't mean to offend. It's just, well, you don't see that very often, you know? Between a human and a FAUNIS."

Part of Blake wanted to remind this kid that he was in her home, on her ship, tens of thousands of miles from the nearest planet, and in walking distance of three different airlocks, which she would throw him out of if he continued to make veiled threats. She very carefully took that part of her psyche and shoved it back in its box, wrapped said box in caution tape, and slapped a "Warning!" label on it.

Instead she asked, "Are you getting any closer to your point?"

He seemed taken aback by her sharp retort. "I apologize. I'm being intrusive, aren't I? But I have to know, you folks are okay with that sort of thing?"

Blake took a moment to reconsider this boy. She watched how he continued fidget nervously with his hands, how he struggled to meet her gaze, how he kept a comfortable distance between them. Had she misread his intent? She decided to throw him a bone. "No one on this crew has any problems with interspecies relationships, synthetic or otherwise. Why do you want to know?"

"Well," he started, then cut himself off. He reached into a pouch on his belt and pulled out an envelope. On the front the word "Foxhill" was written in blue ink. Blake realized she really had misjudged him. "There's this girl back home. Her name's Nina Delphinium, but most everyone calls her Foxhill. We're in love but neither of our families know about it. You see, she's a FAUNIS, and my parents wouldn't approve of such a relationship." From what little interaction she'd had with the family matron, she could easily believe that. "I barely got to say goodbye to her before we loaded onto your ship. I was just wondering, you're going back to Eltanin at some point, right?" He held out the letter to her. "Could you deliver this for me? I can't afford to pay much, but it shouldn't be too far out of your way, right?"

Blake stared at the proffered paper for a moment. "A letter? That's pretty old-fashioned."

The boy shrugged. "We're old-fashioned types out here. Plus, getting a CGT connection is expensive. Pa keeps a close eye on our only connected computer. He can be very controlling. If not, I'd be messaging her every day. Until the mail system sets up a route towards our little valley on Rastaban, you're my only option."

Blake only took a moment more to consider the boy who'd come to her so desperately. He was taking a huge risk; the fact that she was a FAUNIS didn't guarantee she was comfortable with synthetic/organic relationships. "I don't think I ever caught your name."

"Benjamin Brunswick, miss, but you can call me Ben."

Blake took the letter from Ben and placed it carefully in her coat pocket. "I'll make sure she gets your letter, Ben."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

It had been weeks since Blake had shown them Ben's letter and led them on a short hunt for its fated recipient. Ruby had adored the idea of a secret exchange between lovers and was glad Blake agreed. It shouldn't have surprised her that Blake was a secret romantic, especially considering the topics of some of the book she'd spied her reading when she thought no one could see her, but somehow the thought hadn't crossed her mind before.

Since then, though, thoughts of the couple had faded and nearly slipped from her memory. Then the video came. It was a pre-recorded message sent via the same line that they'd used to conduct business with the Brunswicks previously.

Ben's face filled most of the screen and the sight wasn't pretty. A large bruise covered most of his face, his nose was bent at an unsettling angle, and there were heavy bandages on his neck. None of those features had been there last time they'd seen him.

"To the crew of the Crescent Rose: please, you have to help me. If my father hadn't kept your contact info on file, I'd be out of luck; there's no one else I can reach out to.

"Foxhill and I've been exchanging letters through the hands of spacers, but one of them must have been less discrete than we'd hoped. My family found out about our correspondence." He hesitated as he gently touched his face. "Pa didn't take it well.

"Please, you have to get me out of here! I know I should've run away with Nina when I had the chance. I never should've gone to Rastaban. I'm nearly eighteen now and I don't want a thing to do with my family anymore, not if they can't accept that I love her.

"God, I hope you get this."

It had been enough for Ruby to start firing up the engines before it had even finished playing the first time. Now, as they approached Rastaban once again, Ruby was having a hard time staying still.

"Ruby, breathe." It was a simple command, whispered in her ear by the remarkable woman who stood at her back, arms on Ruby's shoulders keeping her pinned in place. "We're already doing everything we can."

"I know, Blake," Ruby said, leaning into her touch. "But what if that's not enough. You saw how he looked in the video; he could be dead by the time we get to him."

"Thinking like that is only going to hurt you. Whatever the situation is when we get there, we'll deal with it. Until then, all we can do is wait."

"Waiting is hard."

Blake's only response was to turn her hold into a gentle massage.

Ruby watched through the cockpit window as they stood together, cataloguing every second of their descent. Rastaban was covered almost entirely with swirls of sickly-green clouds, only the occasional break revealing the ground beneath. It stood in sharp contrast to the planet they'd recently left. Eltanin was a so-called "Paradise Planet", meaning it had a biosphere when explorers first found it, and atmospheric makeup was already in a comfortable range for all known intelligent species. Rastaban, on the other hand, required extensive terraforming before it could support life. Thus far a few pockets of land had been deemed habitable. They were headed to a wide valley surrounded by high mountains, where airflow in and out was poor enough that an open-air habitat could be supported with minimal filtration in place. The mountains were high enough that they practically had to come in straight-down. Yang was an expert pilot, however, and she had no trouble turning a rapid freefall into a controlled, smooth landing.

Ruby left the cockpit the moment she could pick out Brunswick Farms from the surrounding land. She trusted Yang to land them safely in the best place she could. She intended to be at the exit ramp the moment they stopped moving.

Without a word spoken between them, Blake and Weiss followed at her back. The three armed themselves with weapons from their lockers as the ship settled to the ground and the artificial gravity shut off in favor of the local flavor.

Ben was waiting for them in an open field when the hatch opened, having undoubtedly seen them coming, bag on his back and determination in his eyes. Behind him was a very angry Bartleby Brunswick with a shotgun in hand. Ben's mother was visible in the distance, but she didn't approach.

"Where do you think you're going, boy? Get back here!"

Ruby's gun was already at her shoulder, her eye aligned with the scope. She announced their presence with a warning shot at the old man's feet. He looked at her, acting as if he were noticing her for the first time.

"Hi," she said, injecting as much cheer into her voice as she could, given the circumstances. Ben seemed to be alive and well, even though he was favoring his right leg, so there was more cheer than she expected. "We're here to kidnap your son!"

The man made a sound like a stalling car engine.

"Sorry we couldn't give you more notice," Weiss added, voice coming not from her mouth, but from the translator wrapped around her neck that turned the internal flashing lights of the Atlesian language into audible sounds, "but you know how these things go."

His shock morphed into rage. "I should've known you lot were no good. Boy! I won't have you cavorting around with talking rocks and machines with delusions of grandeur! You get back to the house now!"

Ben seemed to shrink into himself, clutching the straps of his bag like a lifeline. But, to his credit, he held his ground. "I'm nearly eighteen; I'm not your boy anymore." He met his father's eyes. "I was never going to stay forever. I wanted to help you set up this new farm, to get you through the first harvest, but I can't do that anymore. I'm sorry, but you've driven me to this."

The man shook with rage. "This is all because of that FAUNIS bitch, isn't it?!"

Ben seemed to finally snap, going from timid to furious in an instant. "Her name is Nina!" he shouted. "Her friends call her Foxhill! Her favorite color is red, she likes action movies and swimming in the lake, and she's never once hurt me! She's a far better person than you!"

The man raised his shotgun and pointed it at his son. Ben flinched. The crack of a gunshot filled the air.

Through a faint trail of smoke coming from the end of her rifle, Ruby watched the man clutching at the bloody stump where his trigger finger used to be. His gun was on the ground, unfired.

The scene held frozen for a moment before Ben seemed to gather his wits once again. "Goodbye," was all he said before he turned and began limping towards Crescent Rose.

Despite having already lost a finger, Ben's father still hadn't decided to back off. He moved to give chase, even as blood poured from his hand, when the growing sound of an engine reached Ruby's ears.

Fun fact about the layout of the Crescent Rose: a spiral staircase directly connects the cockpit on the third level with the hallway between the bedrooms on the second level. From there it's nearly a straight shot, barring a few slightly curved hallways, to the straight-run staircase that leads to the storage bay on the first level, which itself connects to the main exit ramp that they currently stood at the bottom of.

Fun fact number 2: Yang has a motorcycle named Bumblebee. On a normal day, Bumblebee would remain in storage unless Yang was riding him planetside. On a normal day, Ruby would be furious if she caught Yang riding him through the hallways of their home.

Fun fact the third: today was not a normal day. Ruby was very angry, which made her willing to overlook certain things.

Yang hit the top of the ramp and soared over their heads, airborne for a hot minute. When she landed, tires bouncing and spinning in the dirt, it was directly between Ben and his father.

"Did I miss the fun part?" she asked.

"Afraid so," Blake said, "but you're just in time to help clean up."

Yang turned her bike and revved the engine, grinning as the man behind her was sprayed with gravel and loose dirt.

Ben continued to advance. He stumbled as he hit the lip of the ramp, but Weiss was already there to catch him. She glanced over him, no doubt cataloguing every one of his injuries. She glared up at the man responsible for them, standing dirty, bloody, and humiliated. "How could you? To your own child?"

If he responded, Ruby didn't hear him. The moment Yang and Bumblebee were back on the ship the ramp began to raise closed. Yang approached the nearest intercom and activated it. "Autopilot. Command: begin takeoff. Follow preset course."

Crescent Rose shook as the engines activated, and soon they were in space once again.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

They'd broken lightspeed to get to Rastaban quickly, but fuel for the superluminal engines was expensive; Ruby had them take the long way back. That meant 32 hours of travel, during which their passenger had two different panic attacks and, out of a desire to pay the crew back for helping him, scrubbed every floor on the ship.

When they finally returned to Eltanin, the whole crew saw Ben off. Their reunion was heartwarming; Nina hadn't been expecting him, but the moment they met each other's eyes she was running towards him.

As the errant lovers reunited, Nina lifting and twirling Ben in circles, Blake shifted her focus to Ruby. She smiled, still caught up in watching the ongoing reunion, practically glowing in the warm light of day. As if noticing she was being watched, her eyes moved to meet Blake's.

Her pulse skipped a beat. She opened her mouth to say something, but she couldn't find the words. Instead she just stared, caught in the moment. Later, she'd look back on the moment and realize what she should've said, what she wanted to say. That's how it always worked, the words not coming until after they were needed, after silver eyes and red hair no longer served as barricades to conscious thought.

This time, however, she might have found a solution in the actions of another.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

_To my dearest captain,_

_The air between us of late has been stifling, filled with all the things we aren't saying, because actually saying them is too great a challenge. Your presence clouds my mind and jumbles my thoughts; it is soma, a drug to which I am gleefully addicted. But I must abstain for a time, because what needs to be said must be done so with a clear head. And, if I am to be completely honest, I'm scared. I dread your reaction when you read the things I haven't said. Your smile is the most wonderful thing about you, and I couldn't stand to be the cause of its disappearance. So I pray you'll forgive me this one cowardly act._

_Since the day our paths first crossed, you have continued to impress and amaze me. One crisis after another has arisen, and you've faced each with wisdom and aplomb far beyond what is demanded of your station. Your mind and wit are unequaled throughout the stars. Our ship and our lives could not be in safer hands._

_You drive me to be a better person, not by force but by example. You make me want to be worthy of your argent light, so that I know I deserve your smile. And yet, you never demand change, accepting every facet of my being I bare to you. It is the greatest contradiction, that you both make me want to be better, and also make me more comfortable with the woman I already am._

_But more than anything, being with you has made me hope again. For a long time now hope has been a dangerous animal. It was another stitch in an infinitely repeating pattern where every rising hope is soon crushed by the gravity of despair, and even worse, apathy. The apathy of fools who are too happy to continue living in a sub-par world, and thusly resist any change. But you make hope beautiful again; the despair is less crushing, less prevalent, and the light of a better future manages to shine in spite of it._

_I keep my heart locked tight in my chest and don't open it easily or often. And yet, in a few short months you have plowed through my barriers with the artifice of one who never realized they existed. You've made yourself a place there without my knowing consent, and yet having realized the nature of your act, I find myself welcoming your presence with open arms and baited breath._

_Yes, baited breath, because I agonize over thoughts of the future. We've seen first-hand the struggles we would face if we grow any closer. We could turn two lives into one, and what would that life then look like? Full of new hardships and struggles that neither of us deserve. It's all but unheard of for me to let the opinions of strangers divert the course of my life, and yet I cannot bring myself to knowingly drag you into this pit with me._

_But even were you to leap in after me, and I promise I would catch you with open arms, I wouldn't be able to give you all the things you deserve. Humans have needs, primal, basic needs, that I, as a FAUNIS, simply do not. And, though it pains me to admit, I cannot reciprocate in this way._

_You are everything I could ever ask for. You are caring, compassionate, hopeful, smart, funny, and so much more. You always see first who I am, and never dwell overlong on _what_ I am. But in return, I could never be everything you need. Always there would be something missing between us._

_I care for you deeply. I do not wish to leave the crew, nor to cease being your dear friend. But I think it wise if we go no further than this that we have now._

_Faithfully yours,_

_Blake_

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

_Blake,_

_You've got me at a loss for words. Your letter was beautiful, more than anything I could write myself. But what you've said warrants a response, so I'll have to try._

_First of all, you've done nothing that needs forgiving. Sometimes when I'm around you I find it hard to speak. Other times I can't stop myself and everything comes out uncontrollably. Writing everything down on paper like this helps me find a middle ground._

_We've been dancing on the edge of something for a while, carefully feeling out the shape of what we have and who we are. I still don't know what that is myself, but this is what I do know: my life would be lesser without you in it. I suspect that it's only a matter of time before the thought becomes unbearable._

_I also know this: the dance, the balancing act between too close and too far, is exhausting. The times when I want nothing more than to throw myself into your arms keep growing in number, but I always hold back out of fear. I'm tired of always being afraid to ruin what we have. And I know moving forward in a relationship is scary too, especially so early on, but I'm tired of being afraid by myself. I want to be afraid with you._

_You say that being together would be difficult, and I recognize that. But _life_ is difficult. Regardless of who you share it with, life is still an obstacle course with no prize. I want to face these challenges with you, because you make me stronger. You always seem so mature and confident. It makes me want to impress you every time we're together._

_This is the first time I've seen you doubt before. I'm glad to be seeing a new side of you, but please, don't doubt me. Never doubt how much I care, nor how far I'll go, for you._

_And as far as the topic of sex goes, which is what I think you were referring too, you're making too much of an issue about it. I won't deny that I enjoy sex, but it's not the end-all-be-all of life. Spending my life with someone special is far more important than any physical pleasure._

_You are special, Blake. You've got the biggest heart of anyone I've met, you always stand up for what you believe is right, you've got great taste in books, and you're an amazing fighter. If I listed everything I like about you I'd run out of paper before I finished._

_I too want to stay friends with you, Blake, but I don't want to stop there. I hope this letter changes your mind. I can't force you to accept me, though, so the decision is yours now. Please respond soon._

_Your friend, and maybe something more,_

_Ruby_

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Three sharp knocks tolled from Ruby's door. Immediately her stomach churned, her heart soared, her mind raced, and her knees shook. She answered the door and spied the one person she hoped and feared would be behind it. She tried to speak, but her breath caught in her lungs before she could.

Blake stood, Ruby's letter held in her hands, partially crumpled. She met Ruby's eyes and spoke first. "'Something more' would be nice."


	4. Vacation

The crew of the Crescent Rose had elected to take a week off. As far as vacations went, it wasn't much. They didn't really have enough funds to go anywhere nice, but a week without having to worry about keeping the ship running or finding their next job was enough of a stress relief to be worth it.

Yang had taken Weiss out on Bumblebee, giving Ruby and Blake the run of the ship. They'd started out trying to binge-watch a holo-series adaptation of a book they'd both read, the two of them leaning against each other in the ship's common room, watching the projection. Unfortunately, despite having been wanting to watch the show for months, Blake was having a hard time following along. Instead, her thoughts were plagued by the woman at her side.

Ruby wasn't just her captain anymore. She was her girlfriend now, but the change was so recent that they hadn't yet figured out what that meant. The two of them had developed a deep connection almost from the beginning, going from being strangers to reading each other's minds in record time. They weren't the same person, not even close, and yet the same things made them laugh. The same things made them cry. The same things hurt them.

Blake craved that kind of relationship with someone, and had been overjoyed when Ruby had blown past all her defenses and asked to take the next step. But now she found herself fumbling that step and was suddenly terrified of ruining everything. The couple had a profound emotional bond, and Blake had thought that would be enough, but now she found herself struggling with the day-to-day parts of having a girlfriend. All the little things, stuff she used to consider shallow surface-dressing, were turning out to be more important than she'd expected. Blake was supposed to be the mature, experienced one, but she really only had one past relationship to draw on, and that was more a lesson about what not to do with, or accept from, a person. She found herself left with so many questions that she didn't know the answers to.

When is it okay to hold her hand? How long can they cuddle for? Is it okay to share a bathroom? A shower? A bed? When should she treat Ruby like her girlfriend and when is it better to treat her like her boss?

"Can I kiss you?"

Blake turned her head and locked eyes with Ruby. Her chin was perched on Blake's shoulder, face centimeters away. It looked like she'd been dealing with her own stream of thoughts.

Blake gave the idea a moment of consideration before nodding her consent, turning her body for a better angle. Ruby leaned in, pressing her mouth against Blake's own. She felt something wet touch her lips and she opened them, letting Ruby inside.

Blake had been kissed before, but never like this. Not like in her books. In the past, kisses had been rough, possessive, almost violent; a quick meeting to remind her who she belonged to. This one was different, softer and more timid. Ruby tasted like…

Well, she tasted like tongue. And saliva. And a little bit of the breakfast they'd shared that morning. It wasn't like she'd read; there was no fire in her belly or tremble in her knees. There was just a tongue inside her mouth. Ruby seemed happy, though, smiling when she finally pulled back, and that was enough to make Blake happy.

"You seemed distracted," Ruby said.

Blake nodded. "I keep thinking about us."

"You want to turn this off and talk about it?"

Blake glanced at the images projected into the air. One of the characters was in the middle of a stare-down with a wild boar. She didn't remember the scene from the book, nor did she have any idea how they got to that point. "Yeah," she agreed, and the images disappeared.

Despite agreeing to talk, Blake found herself struggling with what to say next. Ruby, however, didn't seem to have the same difficulty, taking Blake's hands in her own before speaking. "I think communication is the most important part of maintaining a healthy relationship. So if you have any questions or concerns, you can always ask or tell me them. Nothing's too personal." She stopped abruptly, as if interrupted by her own thoughts. "Oh," she continued, "but if you're not comfortable talking about something yet, that's fine. Just say so, and I won't push."

"OK," Blake said. She took a deep breath to calm her wild nerves and racing pulse. Then, taking the plunge and not letting herself rethink it, she asked the first question that came to mind. "Have you ever been with anyone else?"

"A few times," Ruby answered, not hesitating at all. "There was never anything serious, though. Just a few flings that lasted a week or two before falling apart. Never anything like this." Her face took on a slightly pink tinge. "Or, did you mean sexually?"

Blake hadn't meant that; she'd been more concerned with the thought of there being any exes she needed to look out for. But now she was curious. "Have you?"

Ruby squirmed a bit, but answered anyway. "Yeah, during some of those flings."

"What's it like?" Blake asked. Every species treated sex after their own fashion; the differences were extremely evident when you read romance novels as often as Blake did. Humans in particular seemed to treat it like the greatest thing in the universe.

"I'm probably not the best person to ask that," Ruby answered, her blush fading. "It's fun, but I don't find it as sacred as everyone else seems to. I usually use the metaphor that sex is like milkshakes. There's lots of different kinds, and as long as no one's forcing it down your throat, milkshakes are great. Sometimes you have one by yourself, other times you want to share one with someone else. But milkshakes aren't a necessary part of life; I like them, but I could also live without them. And If you don't like milkshakes, then I won't ask you to have any." Ruby blinked several times, something Blake had come to recognize as a sign that her thoughts had suddenly been pulled in some new direction. "Metaphors aside, I'm really craving a strawberry milkshake right now."

Blake chuckled. Ruby's mind was unpredictable at nearly all times, but the tangents it took her on were often amusing to watch.

Ruby had been open with her, so Blake decided to return the favor without being asked. "I can have sex," she said. "All the right parts are there. But I don't get anything out of the process." As far as Blake knew, no FAUNIS did. Humans had made a species that looked like themselves, and were able to have sex, but didn't enjoy it. There weren't a whole lot of reasons she could think of for them to do that, and none of them were good. "So while there's nothing physically stopping me from being with a partner, the idea makes me uncomfortable. I'm sorry I can't do that for you."

"You have nothing to apologize for," Ruby told her, placing her hand on the center of Blake's chest, right over her core. "You haven't done anything wrong." After a moment, she seemed to notice where her hand had ended up. "Is this okay?"

Blake considered their situation for a moment. "It's frustrating," she answered. Ruby pulled her hand back, but Blake caught it before it got far and returned it. "No," she said, "not that. We used to be physically affectionate all the time. We didn't need to ask, it just happened naturally. But now that we've put a name to what we are, we keep second-guessing ourselves. It feels like we're trying to fit ourselves in a box that wasn't made for us. You can touch me Ruby; your body has never made me uncomfortable."

Ruby blushed again, even brighter than when they'd been talking about sex, but she didn't try to pull away. "I'm scared of hurting you," she said. "You haven't talked about it much, but I can tell there was someone in your past who hurt you. I don't know what they did, and I don't know what might remind you of them, so I try to be careful and ask."

Blake didn't respond right away. She hadn't talked about that man because she'd been trying to move on. She didn't want to let him control her life anymore, so she'd done her best to forget him. If she never thought about him, then it was like he'd never existed.

Pretending that the past had never happened, it seemed, didn't actually mean it hadn't changed her.

"His name was Adam," she finally said. Her eyes dropped to the couch, old memories playing in front of them. Taking comfort in Ruby's closeness, she continued. "He was abusive, but more emotionally than physically. He was controlling and demanding, and sometimes he'd hit me if I didn't listen to him. It took me years to get away from him." She found herself absentmindedly caressing Ruby's knuckles. "You're nothing like him. I don't have anything to fear from you."

Ruby's smile returned, and everything was okay again. The past faded back into the fog of time and memory, and there was only the present left in the room. Blake took a deep breath and let it all soak in, carefully committing the moment to memory and marking it as precious.

"Have any other questions?" Ruby asked. "I'm not going anywhere, if you do."

"Now that you mention it," Blake said, feeling a mischievous smile take over her face, "there is one thing about the human body that fascinates me." She pressed a finger against Ruby's side and dug in just a little bit, wiggling it around as she did. Ruby screamed with laughter and tried to get away. "Ticklishness is such a strange thing. It doesn't really make sense for it to evolve naturally." She continued to torment Ruby, following her as she tried to escape. Eventually Ruby managed to grab her hands and make her stop, gasping for breath as she did. Blake didn't let this dampen her mood at all. "Now, I'm not ticklish myself, so there's no way for you to get back at me."

Ruby's face sombered a bit, which hadn't been Blake's intention. She seemed to be considering something carefully, her eyes searching for something in Blake's face as she thought. Once her breath evened out, she spoke. "You aren't ticklish and you don't like sex. Is there any way that you do enjoy your body?"

Blake's upper ears stood up straight, not having expected the question. She turned her hands over, idly returning Ruby's grasp as she considered her response carefully, thinking of all the things she liked in the universe.

"This might sound strange, but I like being tired. I like going all out, until I don't have energy left to even move. I like sleeping somewhere warm and safe. I like trying new foods and eating until my batteries are full, then getting up and doing it all over again." She pulled one of Ruby's hands towards her to press it gently against her cheek. "I like touching you. It's not sexual, it's just… comfortable. Warm."

Ruby responded by leaning forward and placing her forehead against Blake's. "I think I know what you mean." She pushed forward a little more, and the two fell backwards together, Ruby curled in a ball on top and still holding Blake's hands in her own.

Blake hummed, a sound that came from the depths of her chest, content with their new situation. They lay together for a while, neither wanting to risk breaking the moment with words. Eventually, Ruby was the first to speak. In a voice so quiet it barely reached Blake's ears, meant for her and no one else, she whispered, "We should go on a picnic tomorrow. We can race along the riverside, nap together in the sun, and stuff ourselves with food."

"Sounds like a date," Blake returned. She placed a small kiss atop Ruby's head. Any world that allowed a woman like Ruby to exist couldn't be such a bad place, Blake decided.


	5. Alternate Universe

A/N: this chapter's a crossover with the fanmade visual novel Summer Rose Court. All you really need to know about it to follow this chapter is that it's a High Fantasy AU where Ruby's queen.

I do recommend checking it out, though, if you're curious, as it has an excellent story.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"So what are we thinking?" Ser Schnee asked. "Long-lost aunt?"

_Doubtful,_ Crescent Rose said, the spirit's voice echoing in Ruby's head._ My ties to the Rose lineage aren't what they used to be, but I don't remember ever knowing this woman._

"Crescent Rose doesn't think so," Ruby repeated for the rest of the room's sake.

The woman in question was presently lying unconscious in a guest bedroom in Beacon Castle, Ruby's home, with the entirety of the Summer Rose Court gathered around her. She looked almost exactly like Ruby did, only aged by about a decade. Her style of dress was strange, though, unlike anything she'd ever seen someone wear. She wore no armor, but her cloak was made of a fabric so strong that nothing they did could tear or rend it, and yet Glynda assured them it wasn't enchanted. Most bizarre of all, though, was her weapon. Ruby had thought it was no more than a poorly designed spear, but Nora had immediately recognized it as a weapon she'd called a gun. Though even she'd remarked on how it's design was unlike any gun she'd seen before.

"Perhaps she's traveled here from the future?" Penny suggested.

"Everything we know about how the world works says that would be impossible," Glynda assured her. Yet, despite saying so, she was the only one not giving Penny a strange look for suggesting such a thing.

The woman began to stir. Her eyes blinked open; silver, Ruby noted, another point of familiarity. Her eyes traveled slowly around the room, still half-lidded and groggy. "Is this an intervention?" she muttered. "I swear I've been taking it easy on the cookies." Then her gaze landed on Ruby, standing close to the bedside, and stopped moving. She blinked a few times, rubbed her eyes as if to clear the sleep from them, then suddenly shot upwards.

Weapons were drawn, but when the woman made no further movement beyond slowly raising her unarmed hands, Ruby ordered them to relax.

"I don't suppose anyone could tell me where I am?"

"You're in Beacon Castle," Ruby answered, summoning as much royal authority as she could. "My home. A portal opened in my garden, and when we arrived, you were passed out on the ground. Care to explain who you are and where you came from?"

The woman met Ruby's gaze unflinchingly. "My name is Ruby Rose."

A soft "Oho!" came from Penny's direction, but Ruby refused to break eye contact with the stranger.

"Would I be right to guess that your name is also Ruby Rose?" she continued.

Blake answered before Ruby could. "She is Rubilacxe Rose, Queen of Vale and Surrounding Territories. Attempting to impersonate her is a serious crime that could earn you the death sentence." She had positioned herself on the opposite side of the bed, so that when the stranger faced Ruby, she had to turn away from Blake.

The impostor didn't react to her presence, nor even turned around as she addressed her. "You must be Blake, then." She made a wordless sound, more a whine than anything else, and flopped back down on the bed. "This is the last time we take a cleanup job from a mad scientist. I don't care how well he pays."

Looks of confusion were traded generously around the room until Weiss opted to pick up the trailing end of the, apparently two-way, interrogation. "You still haven't answered the Queen's question. Where are you from and why did you enter the Castle Grounds without permission?"

The impostor propped herself up with her arms, not quite sitting, but no longer laying either. Ruby noted that she was acting very casual and unconcerned, despite being surrounded by a dozen armed people currently holding her captive. "Does the name Eltanin mean anything to you?"

The name sounded very vaguely familiar to Ruby, but she couldn't say why. Fortunately, Ozpin was there to save the day. "I believe there's a small settlement far to the northwest, near the edge of the Kata territories, by that name."

"Huh," the impostor said. "Well, that's not where I'm from. Me and my crew, we live on a ship called Crescent Rose; I'm it's captain." Crescent Rose bristled in her mind, indignant at sharing a name with a mere boat. "We pick up work here and there to get by; we'd taken a cleanup job for this scientist named Arthur Watts. One of his labs had been destroyed by an explosion, so we were supposed to cart the wreckage off to another location for him to rebuild. Of course, Watts is the kind of guy who thinks impossible is for people with less than three doctorates, so we probably shouldn't have been handling anything there without radiation suits and ten-foot…" she cocked her head to the side. "What are those grabby things called that let you pick up stuff from far away? I'm blanking on their name right now. Whatever, it doesn't matter, mistakes were made, is my point." She hummed for a moment, staring off into space in thought. "The last thing I remember was finding a piece of Watt's tech that looked to still be in one piece. Then everything went white and I woke up here." She returned her gaze to meet Ruby's. "Was there a small, black box nearby where you found me?"

"Nope," Yang answered. She and Blake had been the only ones with her when they'd found the impostor. "Just you and your gun." She pointed at Nora, who still maintained a firm grip on the weapon.

"You're claiming to have been teleported into the castle grounds against your will?" Glynda asked. "That kind of magic is far beyond the work of any but the strongest of mages. Furthermore, we've already confirmed that you came from beyond this plane; you can't claim otherwise."

_By which she means _I_ confirmed it_, Crescent Rose said.

The impostor shook her head. "Not magic, science. And I'm not just from another plane; I think I'm from another universe altogether." She paused. "Erm, that might not be the best explanation. How should I put this?"

Ruby wasn't following the explanation anymore. Firstly, magic was a part of the world that could be studied by science the same as anything else, but the impostor seemed to consider them separate things. Then she claimed to be from outside the plane of Vale, yet not from another plane? Was she claiming to be from the void between planes? Only spirits were supposed to be able to survive there.

Fortunately, Glynda seemed to be following better. "You're referring to the multisystem theory?" she asked.

The impostor brightened. "Maybe? What is that?"

Glynda nodded. "It's a mostly disregarded hypothesis that there could be other planar systems, or universes, beyond our own. With enough of these universes, you would expect to see some similarities or repetitions between them."

"That's close enough," the impostor replied. "I'm not claiming to be the queen, but I _am_ Ruby Rose. My crewmates are Blake Belladonna, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao-Long, and if I ended up here, the others probably did too."

Ruby shared looks with the three women in question. "There were three other portals opened at the same time as yours, but they were further away."

"One of the portals opened inside the Curia," Glynda added. "The wizards informed us that a crystalline golem came through it, which they've taken into custody for now. One of your friends?"

The impostor – no, the other Ruby – nodded. "That's probably Weiss."

Ser Schnee turned to leave the room. "A golem? I should like to see that. I'll be taking the Knights Auffallend to the Curia, then. The wizards aren't set up to hold prisoners for long. Your Majesty." She bowed, then left.

"Right," Ruby said, still trying to wrap her head around the situation. "We've already sent soldiers out to the other two locations, but we won't hear back from them for a while. One portal opened in the western desert, and the other a bit closer, but to the south."

"No offense to your soldiers," the other Ruby said, finally sitting up properly and throwing her legs over the side of the bed towards Ruby. "But the moment my crewmates wake up they're going to disappear. Especially Blake. If we want to find them, we'll have to go ourselves."

It was a refreshing change of pace to watch Blake sneak up on someone else for once. She moved with all the grace and stealth of a panther, every movement exact and silent, not even stirring the air as she placed the bone-white blade of her hand scythe against Ruby's doppelganger's neck beneath her cloak. Blake pressed against her back, mouth to her ear. "You're still our prisoner. You don't get to go anywhere without permission."

Ruby's counterpart didn't even flinch, instead grinning mischievously. "Are you going to tie me to the bed, then, Blake? I hope you make the others leave before you have your way with me."

Ruby tried to hide the blush that rose to her cheeks in response to the images her response conjured. Blake seemed equally distracted, which the other Ruby also noticed. In an instant their positions were switched, Blake pinned to the bed with the other Ruby's arm at her neck. She was grinning as she taunted, "Unless you'd rather me be on top?"

Ruby grabbed her counterpart's hood. "I might be able to accept that you're some alternate version of me." With a slight boost from Crescent Rose, she pulled hard enough to send her flying across the room. "But that doesn't mean you get to flirt with my fiancée."

The other Ruby stumbled, missed her step, and landed with a crash against the wall, sliding slowly to the ground. "Fiancée?" she muttered, sounding slightly dazed and looking like her worldview was in the middle of being redefined.

Ruby wondered, with everything that had happened today, if she had a similar look on her face.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Despite the potential risks involved, Ruby had ultimately decided to let this Captain Rose accompany them to the Southern Forest to investigate the opened portal. Her Majesty rode atop Celica, one of Yang's sand dragons, sharing the saddle with their prisoner, who claimed to have never ridden a horse before. Jaune and Penny rode alongside the queen, with Blake taking up the rear. The rest of the court were either investigating the other portals or had remained in the castle.

Blake's position gave her a good vantage point on the prisoner. The woman's weapon had been returned to her and she now carried it slung loosely across her back. Ruby seemed to trust her, and they were heading into grimm territory, so it was best for everyone to be armed.

Blake still wasn't sure about her story. The idea that she came from a different world with different physical laws, that nonetheless produced similar people, seemed completely bizarre. And yet, it would explain many of her strange traits. Her looks could be chalked up to coincidence, and knowledge about the court members was hardly a secret, but that wouldn't explain her lack of reaction upon discovering Penny was a robot. Not to mention her aura, or lack thereof. Her soul was quiet, nearly impossible to feel. Even when they'd been on the bed together, close enough to share breath, Blake had barely felt a glimmer from the silver-eyed woman. Her lack of spiritual presence was unsettling, especially in light of her significant physical presence.

Which is to say that she was certainly cute enough to be Ruby.

Blake rode a bit closer, letting her keen ears drop eaves on the pair of lookalikes.

"How weird," Ruby was saying. "A whole species of living crystals? It's hard to imagine."

Captain Rose shrugged. "Yeah, well, Weiss is still Weiss. You'll see when you meet her."

"Is that it, then? Two kingdoms of humans, Vale and Vacuo, plus faunus and materia?"

"There's one more intelligent species," the captain said. "The qedem are shapeshifters from the planet Mistral. Most of them can look human, but their natural form looks like a big lizard crossed with a bat."

"Like a dragon?" Ruby asked.

"What's a dragon?"

Ruby patted their mount. "Like this guy, but bigger and with wings."

"They're a little bulkier, but otherwise you've got the idea." Captain Rose began waving her hands about, as if trying to paint a picture in the air. "They've got feathers and scales and can range in size from small dog to large horse. My world's Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha are all qedem."

The thought of Nora having the bulk and destructive capabilities of a dragon was a bit terrifying, Blake was unashamed to admit. She did her best to scrub the image from her mind, grateful that they wouldn't be meeting any time soon.

"Oh," the captain continued, "and I guess there's proteans too; that's what Yang is. Proteans are technically human, but one of their parents is a qedem who was in human form when… well, when they began."

Blake tried to picture what that would look like. Would Yang be covered in feathers? Scales? Would she have wings growing out of her back? Or would both parents appearing human mean that she would look completely human too? The concept of heredity wasn't very well understood, so Blake could only make guesses until she finally met her. If she even existed, she reminded herself.

"Your world sounds really strange," Ruby said.

"Mine does?" Captain Rose sounded incredulous. "At least we don't have spirits and magic portals."

"Exactly!" Ruby exclaimed. "You have no magic! How do you manage to get anything done? Especially with the grimm everywhere."

"Technology." Captain Rose swung her weapon around her torso, pointing it at the forest ahead of them. "If we get the chance, I'll show you what this bad boy can do."

Ruby looked over the gun, a gleam visible in her eyes, even from the poor angle Blake sat at. "I look forward to it. Does he have a name?"

"A name?"

"Of course. A proper weapon deserves a proper name."

"I used to name my weapons, but it made it harder to upgrade to new ones." She didn't name her weapons? How un-Ruby-like. "Now I just name ships. Does yours have a name, then?"

Ruby patted her glaive, where it was strapped to her mount's side. "Yup. This is Little Thorn."

Captain Rose chuckled. "Thorn, huh? The perfect weapon for a Rose. Mind if I borrow it?"

"Go right ahead," Ruby offered.

The captain raised her weapon aloft. "Then from here on out you shall be known as Iron Thorn." She lowered the weapon, adjusting the strap so it once again hung on her back. "He's got a brother back home who I'll call Bright Thorn."

"You have to treat your weapons right," Ruby lectured. "They're like your children, but as long as you do right by them, they'll never let you down."

"I know something about that. Speaking of children," Captain Rose said, changing the subject, "and their various prerequisites, you mentioned that you were engaged?" she briefly turned to meet Blake's gaze, probably noting how close she'd ridden. Blake drew closer still.

"The wedding is scheduled to take place next week," she said. "Your arrival has been interfering with the preparations."

"Blake," Ruby chastised, "please play nice."

"So soon?" Captain Rose asked. "You two have known each other for a while, then?"

"A little over a year," Ruby answered. "I would've been okay with waiting a bit longer, but, well." She shrugged. "Politics, you know?"

"Being Queen sounds like a tough job."

"It is." Ruby sighed. "I think I envy you a bit. One ship sounds a whole lot easier to run than a country."

"Oh, I don't know," the captain disagreed. "Keep everyone safe, keep everyone fed. Same thing, really, just on a smaller scale."

The pair's moment of commiseration, powerful despite its brevity, was suddenly shattered by several loud screeches. Mounts were halted and weapons were drawn; everyone recognized the soul-piercing scream of a grimm about to attack.

They were well into the forest at this point, trees surrounding them on all sides. A perfect place for an ambush, if one had the smarts to make use of that. Which grimm usually didn't, unless someone was controlling them again.

The first of the grimm dropped from the trees ahead of them. It was a large beast, monkey-like in shape but at least seven feet tall. A loud crack split the air and it went slack, already fading as it crashed into the ground. Blake's eyes were drawn to the source of the sound. Captain Rose had slipped off the back of the sand dragon and was standing with her weapon against her shoulder, pointed up into the trees. Three more cracks signaled the fall of three more grimm, these ones not even leaving the trees before they died.

Despite herself, Blake was impressed. A skilled longbowman with enchanted arrows would still have difficulty making those shots. Blake wasn't sure how much was the weapon and how much its wielder, but it was indisputably effective.

"You're from around here, Blake," Ruby said, joining her counterpart on the ground. "Do you know what kind of grimm these are?"

"They look like beringels," she answered, "except I've never seen beringels with wings before."

The rest of the grimm attacked as one. Leaping from the forest cover, they circled the group on wings too small to hold their bulk.

Blake was suddenly too busy staying alive to give more than the least amount of attention to her companions. She caught glimpses of Jaune, sticking close to Ruby and keeping grimm off her with his shield, and Penny, wielding a pair of identical swords and tearing through the grimm like they were wet paper. Even the impostor Ruby was holding her own, proving just as lethal in close combat as she was at range.

A pair of beringel swooped through the air at her. She ducked low, letting them pass overhead, then turned and launched her chain-scythe into the side of the nearest one. It struck deep, lodging itself in the creature's ribcage. She was being pulled along as it flew, slowly arcing itself upwards. She moved with the momentum, launching herself into the air and swinging around until she was above it. A sharp tug brought her down on its back, and Gambol soon found its mark in the creature's neck. It fell to the ground, fading even as it plowed through the dirt.

Blake looked around as she landed, trying to locate the other one that had attacked her. When she found it, she froze. Even if she could move, there was no way she would make it in time. Instead, she was forced to watch the scene unfold as if in slow motion.

Penny was in the thick of battle, taking on all comers and showing no hesitation as she fought multiple foes at once. Jaune and Ruby had stayed close together. Crescent Rose's power was leaking out in small bursts, allowing Ruby's semblance to keep most of the large creatures at bay using bursts of wind laden with rose petals. The few who got through were quickly struck down by either Crocea Mors or Little Thorn. Captain Rose, however, had ended up separate from the rest of the group.

One of the beringel, perhaps the one who'd attacked Blake moments ago, had flown up high, hiding itself in the shadows of the forest canopy. These grimm could move remarkably quietly, the movement of their wings barely registering even to her sharp, feline ears. There was no way the captain could hear it as it came down behind her.

"Ruby!" she shouted in warning, already knowing it would be too late. It raised a giant fist above its head, ready to bring it down on its target. Blake's breath was caught in her lungs, wrapped around her chest and squeezing her heart.

Then, in an instant, the creature's head was severed from its body. Smoke poured from the gaping hole, steadily traveling down its body as it faded away. Wreathed in the dissipating cloud was a woman with a familiar face. A few minor features, like the shade of her skin, were different, but the overall resemblance was undeniable. It was a face she'd seen in mirrors and pools of water; it was her own.

"You should really be watching your back, Ruby," the woman, the other Blake, said.

Captain Rose whipped her gun around, pointing the end of it over the other Blake's shoulder. Another loud crack and another beringel fell from the sky. "How can I," she retorted, "when I'm so busy watching yours?"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Between the addition of a new fighter and the beringel's slowly decreasing numbers, the grimm soon made the decision to cut their losses and flee. Total casualties: zero. Or negative one, since they'd managed to find Blake during the battle.

Ruby Rose, Captain of the starship Crescent Rose and voted Best Girlfriend in Two Universes by the only person whose opinion on the subject mattered, was overjoyed to see Blake alive and unharmed. She'd been doing her best to hide it, but she'd been worried ever since she'd woken up.

Her worry eased further when they returned to the castle to find Weiss and, before long, Yang equally safe and sound. The two Weisses couldn't have looked more different, and boy was it weird to see Weiss as a human, but the Yangs could've passed for twins, despite their age difference. She had already overheard them whispering about swapping outfits and both feared and anticipated whatever hijinks awaited.

With the four of them reunited, Ruby had hoped that returning home would be as simple as flipping a switch. Unfortunately, it seemed this universe was no more generous than her own. The black box had come through with Weiss and had been returned to her when the human Weiss, Ser Schnee, had picked her up from where she'd come through. Unfortunately, all attempts to activate it had resulted in complete failure. At Glynda's recommendation, they'd returned it to the wizards of the Curia, allowing them to study it in hopes that their magic could do what Ruby's jiggery-pokery couldn't.

That left the four of them with nothing to do for over a week, none of them allowed outside the castle walls unsupervised for numerous reasons, mostly to do with their appearances resembling important political figures. Ruby was about to go mad from boredom when the day of the wedding finally came.

She really wasn't sure what to think about it. The wedding of Ruby Rose and Blake Belladonna. It wasn't something she'd given much thought to, her relationship with her own Blake still too young to be going down that rabbit hole. And yet here she was, a guest at her own wedding, getting a glimpse of what might, someday, be.

Although she suspected her own wedding wouldn't ever be so grand.

The ceremony was being held outdoors, in the courtyard opposite the royal stables. The castle gates had been propped open, allowing anyone, even commoners, to enter and watch. Humans and faunus intermingled peacefully, an event, Ruby had been told, that was unfortunately rare of late. Seats of honor were reserved for delegates and representatives of the surrounding lands and neighboring planes, as well as close friends and family. Ruby scanned their faces, but aside from the members of the Summer Rose Court, she recognized few of them. There was Oobleck, an old co-worker of hers from Beacon and a librarian and researcher in this world, but she'd already met him while staying in the castle. The same went for Port, another member of the castle staff. She thought she spied Coco, unsurprisingly dressed like a noblewoman, talking with a much less well-dressed Velvet, as well as the less pleasant sight of Cardin Winchester, looking like a clergyman, of all things. Far outside the castle walls, all throughout the city, sounds of music floated through the air. Everyone was celebrating the Queen's marriage.

Ruby and her crew hadn't been given seats of honor, and instead were swaddled in heavy, identity-concealing cloaks and standing amongst the common masses. Ruby kept looking around, trying to spot any more familiar faces in the crowd. Was that the mayor of Evernight she spied?

The sound of trumpets signaled the beginning of the ceremony. The main doors of the castle were flung wide open, and out stepped Queen Rubilacxe Rose. She was dressed in a shining white suit of plate armor, trimmed in gold and etched with images of roses twisting about it. Underneath was a wine-red shirt, the tails of which reached down to the backs of her knees, and black pants. Atop her head was a crown of silver molded in the shape of roses, a single red stone sitting front-and-center, embedded in a crescent moon. At her side, his arm wrapped around hers, was Taiyang Xiao Long.

As inappropriate as it would be, Ruby nonetheless felt the urge to rush over and greet him. She hadn't seen her own father in person in over a year, not since she'd left Vale. Sure, there were video chats, but bandwidth was expensive and unreliable so far from the rest of the galaxy, so such conversations were unhappily few.

Instead of rushing over and ruining the wedding for everyone, Ruby instead took the time, as the duo made their way down the aisle, to imagine herself in her counterpart's shoes. They didn't look comfortable. Ruby had imagined what her wedding day might look like when she was younger. She was usually wearing a dress in those daydreams, sometimes a suit, but always cloth. Metal armor looked so uncomfortable. Yang had a set of power armor she used to battle grimm with, on the rare occasion she wasn't piloting a ship to fight them. Ruby had tried to fit in it once, and the attempt had done nothing good to her body.

What felt like an eternity later, but was in fact only a few minutes, the father/daughter duo finally reached the table where Ozpin stood ready to officiate. Her father bowed deeply to the Queen, then took a seat nearby. Then the trumpets sounded again, and a second pair exited the castle.

All eyes in the courtyard were on Blake. She was gorgeous, though Ruby would admit to being biased about the matter. She wore a dress so long that a young faunus girl followed behind her to lift the end off the ground so it didn't trail through the dirt. It was two-toned; the bodice was white, with a low neckline and thin straps in lieu of sleeves. It was decorated with patterns of stones that glistened when they caught the sunlight and stretched past the waistline in loose loops and curls. The skirt, bell-shaped and made of overlapping layers, was dyed a purple so dark it nearly looked black. She didn't wear a veil; instead, she had a crown of her own, this one made of actual flowers. Roses were woven together by their stems, each a shade of golden-yellow that matched Blake's eyes, save for a single red rose near her left ears. An intricate braid interwoven with strings of polished wooden beads trailed down her back.

Ruby's breath was caught in her throat the moment Blake Belladonna of the Southern Forest walked through the castle doors. At her side, her partner inhaled sharply. Ruby spared a moment to glance over at her girlfriend. It wasn't awe that held her in place the way it did everyone else.

She turned back to the soon-to-be princess, trying to figure out what had set her partner off. Walking the bride down the aisle was a man Ruby didn't recognize, dressed in fur-lined robes and possessing a pair of horns jutting out of his auburn hair.

"Do you know him?" Ruby whispered.

"That's Adam," Blake responded in the same hushed tone.

Oh. Adam had been Blake's abusive ex-boyfriend. While Ruby still didn't know many details, she could imagine how strange it would be to see such a person handing her alternate off at her wedding.

"I guess they have a different relationship in this world," Blake muttered.

Ruby drew close to her, threading their fingers together and bumping shoulders. Blake squeezed her hand in response.

The couple of the day were united at last. Like Tai, Adam bowed to the queen and retreated to his seat, though Ruby noticed his bow seemed a bit shallower than Tai's. Ozpin began the ceremony, speaking loudly enough to be heard all throughout the hushed crowd.

"We are gathered here today to witness the union of human and faunus. But more than that, we witness a union of love and commitment that has withstood countless tests."

He continued on in the same vein, referencing events that Ruby had been told about but not witnessed and praising the couple for their feats. The speech was full of politically-aligned language with heavy emphasis on themes of strengthening the kingdom and unifying the two species, and seemed to say very little about the women actually getting married.

If Ruby had to guess, she'd say the two brides weren't hearing a word of it, tuning it out in favor of each other's presence.

Vows were exchanged, promises to support each other and to support the kingdom, and then Blake was anointed with rosewater and welcomed into the royal family. Finally, rings were exchanged. Queen Ruby placed a silver band on Princess Blake's hand, then received a gold one in return.

Moments before the two could kiss and seal the deal, a piercing screech split the air and tore a portal open overhead. In an instant, the confusing swirl of emotions churning in Ruby's stomach settled into something more familiar. Through the gap in space, Ruby saw a formless ocean of reds and blacks, twisting and gyrating to an ever-present song of rage and violence. A single massive claw gripped the edge of the portal, and an equally-sized grimm mask soon followed. It had the approximate shape of a deer's skull, with sharp teeth and a brace of antlers that wound together as they plunged skyward, all tangled and intertwined like branches of an ancient tree, complete with tendrils of ivy and patches of moss hanging off.

Expectant cheers instead came out as screams of terror as panic drove the crowd into a frenzy. And yet, despite the pushing and pulling of people trying desperately to be anywhere except where they presently stood, a path was cleared between the royal couple and the woman Ruby had spotted in the crowd earlier. Her hair was black and her dress red, decorated with gold lining and glass jewelry. A pair of curved swords were strapped cross-wise on her back.

"For shame," the woman said, her silken voice somehow perfectly understandable despite the panicked screams filling the air. "Lord Ozpin, you forgot the most important part." She held out her hands palms up, and flames began to pour forth from them. "You didn't ask if anyone has reason to object."

The queen turned to her betrothed, stealing a quick kiss and sealing the deal. Then she tore the cloth off the table they stood at, revealing her and Blake's weapons underneath.

She seemed to have the situation under control, so Ruby instead chose to focus on her crew, who were having a hard time staying together as people jostled them from all angles.

"I can't see a thing in this cloak," Weiss complained. "What's happening?"

"Trouble," was all Yang replied.

"Finally." Weiss threw off her cloak and drew her blade in a flourish. "Who are we fighting?" She sounded excited. Spending so much time with Yang, Weiss was starting to pick up parts of her personality. "Oh," she said as she turned her face to the portal above. "How did I not notice that?"

"From what she's told me," Ruby said, "the queen should be able to handle that on her own. We've got other fish to fry." Though the alpha grimm had managed to catch everyone's attention, other portals were opening throughout the courtyard, letting hordes of smaller grimm through. Ruby whipped Iron Thorn out from under her own heavy garments and chambered a round. "It's time to repay our hosts for taking care of us for so long."

Yang leapt high in the air, the heat from her armor activating burning off her extraneous outer layers, and landed atop a grimm moments before it could sink its teeth into a crying child. The rest of the crew followed her example.

The battle was intense, spilling out of the courtyard and into the city at large. Still, Ruby and her crew played their part, killing grimm and saving lives wherever they could. When everything was over, things had turned out better than expected. Casualties of the attack were few, and deaths even fewer. The alpha grimm had been cleaved in twain by the queen when she turned her glaive into a giant, glowing scythe, though not before it did significant damage to the castle walls, and the rest of the grimm were either driven off or killed.

After the all clear was sounded, Ruby and her crew retreated to the castle foyer, tending their wounds and trying not to draw attention to themselves. Most of the wedding crowd had been funneled inside after the attack began, letting the castle's magical defenses tear apart any grimm that tried to step foot within, and many still remained.

The queen was making the rounds, talking softly with people, calming the worried, and generally being present and visible. When she reached Ruby's little corner, where the four of them sat leaning against a pillar, she stopped.

"Thank you for your help today," she said.

"Of course," Ruby responded. "Did you get the woman responsible for all this?"

"Unfortunately, no. She managed to escape during the battle." The queen sighed. "We figured something would happen today. Between the recent change in grimm behavior and the appearance of mutants, like those flying beringel from the forest, it seemed likely someone was controlling the grimm again. If they were going to attack, today was a likely day to do it."

"It would've been nice to have a heads up," Blake said, "if you saw this coming."

"Sorry," the queen said, and she did look genuinely apologetic. "You guys were kind of an unexpected addition to the situation and I didn't want to put more on your shoulders than you deserved."

"I understand," Ruby assured her. "Sorry your wedding day got ruined like this."

"Oh, pshah." The queen waved her hand through the air. "This wasn't the _real_ wedding. Today was for the city and the nobles. We have a more private ceremony planned for the day after tomorrow, friends and family only." She hesitated a moment, then continued. "You guys have more than proven yourselves to be friends today. If you'd like to stay a bit longer, you'd definitely be invited."

"Sure," Yang said. "It's not like we've got anywhere else to go."

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you guys about that." The queen was fidgeting, a sign of anxiety that Ruby shared with her. "Today's been so hectic I haven't had the chance to say anything yet, but late last night the we received a message from the Curia. They're pretty sure they can open a portal back to your world. I'd understand if you wanted to return home as soon as possible; we could do it tomorrow, if you'd like."

Ruby shared glances with each of her crewmates, finding a general consensus in each of their looks. She stood from her spot and bowed at her waist. "Your Majesty, we would be honored to attend your wedding. Home can wait a little while longer."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

As promised, the second ceremony was a smaller affair. It was held in the throne room, with chairs that Blake and her crewmates were actually allowed to use this time. Most of the people present were court members, and the rest had been filled in as to their existence, so there was no need for heavy, identity-concealing clothing this time. Blake recognized most of the people present, either from having met them here or having met their counterparts in her own world; the only exceptions were the blonde boy with a monkey tail who sat next to Velvet and Coco on Blake's counterpart's side of the aisle, and a freckle-faced boy sitting next to Ruby's uncle Qrow on the queen's side.

This time the local Blake, now a princess (and wasn't that an entertaining thought) was dressed in something that resembled a tuxedo. She wore a white shirt with puffy sleeves and silver cufflinks, as well as a black vest and trousers. Atop this was a black, fur-trimmed half-cloak that hung over her left shoulder and was held around her neck by a silver brooch. She entered first, accompanied again by her Adam.

Blake had wanted to talk her about that, to pull her aside the day before and ask all the questions spinning through her head. But when she'd tried, the words wouldn't come out. The plan was to leave the next day, so her chances to try again were slowly dwindling away.

All unpleasant thoughts were blown away the moment Ruby, the other one, the queen, stepped into the room. Her dress had short sleeves and a neckline that ran along her collarbone. The bodice had been fitted tightly, so that it perfectly hugged the curve of her waist. The skirt was relatively thin, though still big enough to leave a trail, and the whole thing was dyed a deep red that darkened to black as it reached the bottom. Thin gold bracelets adorned each of her wrists, which paired with a tight, matching necklace. The simple outfit belied the elegance with which she wore it. Blake was unable to tear her eyes away from the sight of her walking down the aisle, though she maintained enough clarity to reach out blindly and grasp her girlfriend's hand.

There was no bowl of rosewater this time, just Ozpin, Ruby, and Blake. "We're gathered her today to celebrate love," Ozpin began. "Today we forgo speeches about politics, interspecies relations, and the strength of the kingdom, and instead find joy as two people who love each other dearly make the promise to continue together until the end. Ruby, Blake, if you two would join hands."

The princess raised her right hand, the queen her left, and the two wrapped their pinkies around each other's.

"Ruby," Ozpin prompted, "your vows."

The queen nodded. "I wrote mine down, because I knew I'd be too nervous today to remember everything I wanted to say. But then I lost the paper I'd written it on, so I really hope I get this right." She cleared her throat and began. "The first time I saw you, you stood with such confidence and certainty that if you'd told me you were royalty, I would've believed you. I've often thought since then that you'd make a far better queen than I could. But fate has made me queen and I can only make you my princess. As queen I'm supposed to say that I have to put my kingdom first, but I can't. Your love means too much to me; I would throw everything out for your sake. If everything and everyone displeases you, then we can run away together and live our lives in secret. I vow to stand by your side, wherever you go. I vow to support you, in everything you try. I vow to love you, when I'm old and gray and can't remember my own name, I'll still remember you."

Then it was the princess's turn. "I never expected any of this," she said. "Not even in my wildest dreams. You've made me the happiest person in the world, Ruby Rose. You did this, not as the Queen of Vale, but as yourself. I didn't think much of you at first, but I've never been happier to be wrong about someone. I can't promise you that our life will be easy; the tasks ahead of us are daunting, to say the least. I wish I could whisk you away to some tiny cottage on a lake, where we could live out the rest of our days in quiet bliss. But you've chosen to live your life on the difficult path, and I will love you forever for that. That's not a promise, it's just a fact; at this point, nothing could make me love you less. A vow is meant to be kept, a decision made every day for the rest of our lives, so I vow to stay. I vow to never run away from a problem that can be faced head on. I vow that whatever struggles may come between us, I'll address them alongside you, as your wife."

Blake found her gaze latched to the royal couple and unable to move. She couldn't bring herself to look at her girlfriend right now. The words her counterpart spoke weighed heavily on her ears. She wondered if anyone else here really understood the depth of what she was promising. To never run away, when that was all she was good at. She tried to picture herself saying those words to her own Ruby, but she wasn't there yet. Marriage is supposed to make you into a whole new person; if this Blake could keep her vows, then that would certainly be true for her. No wonder they say marriage is terrifying.

With both vows completed, the ceremony drew towards its close. Ozpin picked up a long span of soft, white rope and began winding it around the couple's hands and wrists, until the two were completely bound together by the cord and a single, clasped pinky. As he tied the final tie in the knot, he declared, "With this I pronounce you wife and wife. You may kiss."

Finally, Blake was able to look away, her gaze drifting to the side. Golden eyes met silver, and Ruby lifted their joined hands and pressed her lips against Blake's hand. Blake returned the kiss in kind. A mixture of emotions ate away at her, bafflement at the absurdity of her situation, confusion about the emotions she was confronted with, and no small amount of love for the woman at her side.

Tonight they'd party and tomorrow they'd return home, but for that one moment there was only the two of them. Blake's stomach settled a bit at the thought.

"I love you," she whispered, just loud enough for Ruby to hear. She'd never said it before, but the moment she did she knew she meant it.

"I love you too," Ruby whispered back.


	6. Kitchen Disaster

The thing about working freelance is that sometimes there isn't any work to be had. Sometimes you get a tip about a job on a distant moon, so you fly halfway across the system just to find out someone beat you to it. Then you're stuck flying back at half-speed to a more populated part of the system in order to conserve fuel, struggling to find ways to pass the time that won't eat through money you don't have.

"Ruby, where did you put my flamethrower?"

Blake was sitting in Crescent Rose's common room reading her newest novel when Yang's voice chimed over the intercom, signaling the beginning of the day's unrequested excitement.

Moments later, Ruby returned with, "I put it back in the weapons locker. Where it belongs. Should I be concerned right now?"

"No, no need to be concerned. We have everything under control. Right, Weiss?"

"Can't talk right now, busy," Weiss responded. A loud crash preceded the intercom cutting out.

Blake turned to look behind her. The kitchen was in a small alcove, just to the side of the common room, where she'd seen Weiss and Yang head about an hour ago. She'd been filtering out their bickering/flirting since then, until she'd heard one of them run out moments earlier, heading towards the cockpit door. Past the kitchen counter, she could see Weiss struggling with some amorphous blob.

Sighing, Blake marked her spot and placed her book down on the nearby table. What were those two up to this time?

Across the room the door to the main battery opened and Ruby stepped through. Her skin and clothes, a pair of overalls and an old shirt, were covered in grease and other unrecognizable fluids. Her hair was being held back from her face by a pair of goggles perched atop her head. "What's happening this time?" she demanded to know.

Blake thrust her thumb over her shoulder. Ruby's gaze followed where she was pointing; when she saw the state of the kitchen she ran a hand over her face, managing to dirty it further. "Someone's losing kitchen privileges for this," she muttered.

The couple made their way across the room just in time for Weiss to slam a lid down atop a 10-gallon pot. She struggled to keep it in place.

"Are we doing chemistry experiments in the kitchen again, Weiss?" Ruby didn't get angry about many things, but reckless behavior that damaged her ship was one such thing. After what had happened the last few times Yang and Weiss had gotten bored, the razor edge in her voice was far from unwarranted.

"Of course not. We learned our lesson last time," Weiss assured her. The pot in her grasp shook violently. "We were cooking, which Yang has assured me doesn't count as chemistry."

Ruby didn't immediately snap at her. "Go on," she said.

Motes of light flickered and swirled within Weiss, signs of anxiety and embarrassment. "When we were at the market yesterday I saw this strange animal being sold that I'd never seen before. I thought it might be fun to try and cook, so I bought it." The pot shook again, and Weiss sped up her story in response. "Yang found out about it and thought we could make a stew. It was turning out really well; Yang even said it tasted good when she tried it. Then things might have gotten a tiny bit out of control."

Blake cocked her head to the side, taking in the whole of Weiss' being, as if to remind herself that her friend was, in fact, still made of crystal. "Weiss, you don't even eat food. What made you think experimenting with cooking was a good idea?"

Some manner of sludge began leaking out of the gap between the lid and pot. It was thick, brownish-blue, and it bubbled when it hit the air. "I wanted to do something nice for the crew!" Weiss shouted, and in that moment she lost the struggle with her foe. The lid flew out of her hands, catching her on the head as it went. The contents of the pot followed moments later.

It moved too fast even for Blake's eyes to track. One moment it was in the pot, the next it had tackled Weiss to the ground and spread across most her body. She only got an impression of colors, mostly purple and blue, before it disappeared again.

Weiss attempted to rise to her feet, but stumbled. Blake rushed forward to catch her before Ruby could try the same; Weiss was a heavy weight for a human to lift, being mostly rock, but Blake was more metal than not, so the weight meant little to her.

"I…not… so feel." Weiss' translator was having a hard time interpreting her words. Blake's own fluency in Atlesian wasn't serving her much better; every spot on her that the… thing had touched was glowing an iridescent ultraviolet in a shade Blake had never seen before.

"That doesn't look good," Ruby said

"We should get her downstairs," Blake said in agreement.

Ruby moved to help her, then hesitated. "Where's Yang? If she went to the cockpit to look for her flamethrower, then she should've been back by now."

"Maybe she went to the weapons lockers in storage?" Blake offered. Then another thought hit her. "Weiss said she taste-tested the stew before it turned into whatever that was."

"Oh no." Blake couldn't help but agree with Ruby's sentiments. "Okay, you get Weiss down to the medbay; I'll go find Yang."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Of the four members of Crescent Rose's crew, Weiss was the one with the most medical knowledge. She wasn't a professional, but she had thorough first aid training for all intelligent species. So of course she was the first one to be taken out when a monster attacked.

Blake knew how to care for FAUNIS, but her knowledge of the other species was limited. Still, Weiss had made sure they each knew the basics early on. She knew materia fed by absorbing minerals and nutrients in a water solution through their outermost layers, and that this made them especially susceptible to what few toxins could affect them.

She tore through the various drawers and cabinets until she found what she was looking for. It was a tube of translucent paste that she began slathering generously on the affected parts of Weiss' body. The paste was a general antivenin that was supposed to draw out toxins from a materia while also encouraging the body's natural defenses. Attempting and failing to move Weiss' arm proved that she'd already gone static as her body attempted to use its own methods to remove the invading substance.

As Blake finished emptying the last of the tube, the door opened. Ruby came through, carrying an unconscious Yang to an unoccupied bed.

"How's Weiss doing?" Ruby asked.

"Still glowing; still alive," Blake answered. "Yang?"

"I found her passed out on the cockpit stairs. She's even hotter than usual. What do we do?"

Blake wished she knew. If Yang had eaten something poisonous then maybe, "Induce vomiting?"

"She's unconscious," Ruby countered. "What if she chokes? I'm going to get her an IV and a wet cloth."

As Blake washed her hands of the residual paste, she wondered aloud, "What kind of creature can poison both a materia _and_ a protean? Their biology is so different; I've never heard of anything that could do that."

"I don't know," Ruby replied, talking as she worked, "but I intend to kill it before it gets anyone else."

Blake nodded in understanding. "How far out are we from Eltanin?"

"About an hour and a half. When I'm done here I'll go set up the autopilot to land us at our usual dock. Meanwhile, I want all hands on deck for this. Go find our fifth crewmate and bring him here. And get our weapons, too."

Brake managed to suppress her grimace. She didn't like the newest addition to their crew, but she had to admit he had his uses. Hunting a mystery monster was one of the few things she could rely on him to do.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Zwei had only been with the Crescent Rose for a few weeks, but already he loved it. There were so many corners to poke around in and the new people were so much fun. The long trip here via mail crate had been more than worth it.

One of the new people, the one who liked to play hide-and-seek with him, had picked him up and was taking him somewhere. The sounds that people made were difficult to understand, but he could learn names and this one was called Blake. He didn't understand what she was saying, but he caught the names "Yang" and "Weiss", who were two of his favorite people. Zwei had known Yang for his entire life; she was a girl who was always ready to roll around in the dirt or pull on a rope with him. Weiss was newer, but she liked to pamper him with treats and cuddles, and Zwei's affections were easily bought by such people.

Zwei was rather dismayed to find both of the people in question lying flat on their backs, the stench of sickness covering them. Ruby, his favoritest person in the world, was there too, though she was thankfully on her feet. She gave him only one command. "Hunt."

Zwei knew how to hunt. As Blake lifted him towards both of the sick girls in turn, Zwei got a careful sniff of each. They were very different kinds of creatures, normally with very different smells (except on the rare mornings where they smelled like each other for a while), but there was something within the stench of sickness that they both shared. An underlying smell that suggested something had done this to them, and now Ruby wanted him to find it.

The moment his paws hit the floor he was off. Out the door and up the stairs, straight towards the food room, a place he normally wasn't allowed in. He squashed the urge to slip open the fridge and steal a quick bite; there was more important work to be done. And anyway, he'd probably get a treat when this was all over.

A large pot lay fallen on the floor. Zwei poked his head inside. Yup, this was the strongest source of the smell. It must've come from inside the pot. He committed the scent to memory, then began to follow it. The trail led him out of the food room, past the couches, and into the large room with all the hanging cords, large pillars, and flashing tables that Ruby spent so much time in.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"If this thing hurts my baby, I'm going to kill it," Ruby said.

"I thought we were already planning on killing it," Blake countered.

"Then I'll kill it twice. It's bad enough that it attacked my crew, I won't be having it hurt my ship too."

The main battery, along with the connecting engine room, was undeniably Ruby's domain. The others didn't spend much time in either places, usually only poking their heads in if an extra pair of hands were needed. With a crew as small as theirs was, everyone branched out from their specialty and learned other jobs, but Ruby was still the best engineer around. And the captain. And the best shot with the main gun, even if its computers did most of the heavy lifting. And, along with Blake, one of the only people on the ship who could man all the secondary guns simultaneously without a major drop in effectiveness.

Maybe she should delegate more.

The room was huge, taking up about a quarter of the ship's third level. Thick wires and glowing tubes hung from the ceiling, connecting up to the massive main gun that sat atop the ship, itself about half as long as Crescent Rose. The main body of the gun took up most of the center of the room, surrounded by computer banks and held up by pillars so that it cleared the floor by about a meter and a half.

Zwei was wandering about the room, nose to the ground and following whatever trail he'd found. Ruby followed hot on his tail, eyes casting about and ears straining for any sign of their quarry. Boots on the metal floor made a heavy sound that echoed off the walls.

Movement in the corner of her eye had her whipping Bright Thorn around in its direction. Nothing, just an empty bank of flashing panels.

Zwei's tracking took him between the central pillars and under the main gun. Ruby hesitated at the edge. Open panels and dangling wires from previous patch jobs reduced the already limited headspace underneath; following him would severely limit her mobility if attacked. She crouched down, following her corgi with her eyes as he darted here and there, trying to follow a much faster prey.

The lights cut out.

"Great," Blake said. "We're hunting a monster, on our own ship, in the dark. This is how horror stories start."

"You have night vision," Ruby snarked back, flipping on the flashlight attached to her gun. "What are you complaining about?"

"I'm just saying."

Ruby shook her head in exasperated fondness. "I'm more concerned with why they went out. Either this thing is smart enough to intentionally cut the lights, or it's attacking indiscriminately and getting lucky." She rose from her crouch, standing back-to-back with her partner as they surveyed the room. "Whichever it is, now I have to kill it twice."

Lazer fire behind her had her spinning around, Bright Thorn raised and ready to fire. "It came out of the wall," Blake said, rapidly firing her lazpistol, first along the ground, then up overhead. Ruby tracked her shots trying to follow with her light.

"Ventilation shaft?" she asked.

"Maybe."

She caught sight of a blur, passing through the circle of light projected on the ceiling for only an instant, but it was enough. She pulled her trigger and the thing dropped, releasing a whine like a deflating balloon as it fell.

If the shot injured it, it wasn't enough to kill. By the time Ruby's flashlight was pointed at the ground it was gone, only a small, bulbous part of it momentarily visible speeding away towards the center of the room.

"Zwei, look out!" Ruby called.

A series of barks and growls spoke of a tremendous battle between beast and monster. Ruby caught only flashes of it, as Zwei tumbled with and tore into something that was less of a shape, and more the impression of a mouth on a lump the color of an oil spill. She couldn't even get a solid grasp on how big it was, with how fast and how much it moved, thought it at least seemed to be no larger than a fully-grown corgi. The thing tackled Zwei, knocking him out of sight. Before Ruby could refocus her light, Zwei let out a loud, pained yip and ran straight towards them, sliding to a stop and collapsing at Blake's feet.

"Some fearsome monster hunter you are," she said, scooping him up in one arm, the pistol in her other still sweeping the room. She paused her sweep, turning her attention more heavily on the dog in her arms. "He's breathing really heavily, and I think I see a bit of blood."

"Okay," Ruby said, trying not to let her worry take control of the situation. She could do this. "Let's fall back for now, get Zwei downstairs. Head towards the hatch at the back of the room."

There were four ways in or out of the main battery. One was the door they came in through, and opposite it, on the far end of the room, was a door that led deeper into the guts of the ship, towards the engine and fuel tanks. Near the rear door was also a lift that connected all three of the ships levels, as well as a ladder, covered by a hatch, that exited near the medbay on the second floor.

The pair swept the room as they headed towards the ladder. This time, Ruby was the first to spot it. It moved too fast for her to line up a proper shot, but she fired anyway. The sound drew Blake's attention, and she fired her own gun.

"Keep it away from the exits." Ruby ordered. Together they managed to herd it towards the center of the room, firing ahead of it anytime it tried to head towards a wall or pillar, until they reached their destination.

Ruby knelt to open the hatch while Blake kept firing, her efforts alone less effective than the two together had been. Her success was marked by a beam of light from the lower level shining into the room. "Go," Ruby commanded. Blake forewent the ladder, jumping backwards and dropping the entire distance in one go. Ruby swung onto the top rung, firing one last shot as she went, then slammed the hatch shut above her. Embedded in the wall nearby was a lever under a glass lid. Ruby lifted the lid, pulled the lever, twisted, and pushed it back in. A clunk echoed from the hatch.

"That'll seal off the room. Even the ventilation is locked down now." Ruby joined Blake on the second level. "It should hold for a bit, but I don't want to leave it for long. How's he doing?"

Blake held Zwei out for Ruby to see. His wounds were more visible in the still-active lighting of the hallway. He was indeed bleeding, from a bite mark on his side that was turning a disturbing shade of purple.

"Not you too, Zwei," she moaned, letting Bright Thorn hang from his strap as she took the dog into her arms. "I'm going to get him set up in the medbay. When I get back, we'll finish this thing off."

The hatch above them shook violently, as if something had just slammed into it at high speeds. "Maybe hurry?" Blake offered, sword and gun drawn as she stared down the hatch.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

When Ruby returned, it was to a changed hallway. Blake was on the floor and the nearby lift was peeled open, the doors bending outwards. She rushed to Blake's side, glad to see she was still conscious and struggling to her feet.

"Are you okay?" she asked, helping her up. "What happened?" Ruby fretted nervously, checking Blake over for bite marks or blood.

"I'm fine," Blake assured her, waving off concerned hands, "just dazed. I wasn't watching my six and it tackled me. There's no lasting damage."

Ruby eyed her suspiciously, not failing to notice the difficulty she showed finding her balance again. "You'll let me know if you start to feel sick, right?"

Blake backed off, finally standing on her own without aid, and bowed exaggeratedly at the waist. "Of course, my queen."

"Blaaaake," Ruby whined, "don't call me that. It's embarrassing."

A cute smirk played across Blake's face. "As you wish, your majesty."

Ruby huffed, ignoring the blush she could feel forming on her face and not dignifying Blake with another response. "Did you see which way it went?"

There weren't a whole lot of places it could've gone. Aside from back the way Ruby came, or back the way _it_ came, it's only options for escape were down the stairs to the storage bay or… or down the hallway Blake was pointing at.

Exhaustion leaked out of her in a low moan. "Not life support," she complained. Why did this thing keep getting into the sensitive parts of the ship?

"Royalty first," Blake said, sweeping her arm in the direction they were headed.

"You're a big old teasing meanie," Ruby said, but she led the way regardless.

The life support room was more like a wide hallway than a room, several times longer than it was wide. It was full of variously-sized criss-crossing pipes, clumped together in places and jutting out of the walls at all angles, and thick, twisted cords of dozens or more wires stretching across the ceiling and walls. They were accompanied by controls and sensors for electrical energy, air circulation, and water filtration, amongst other things. Several large, boxy generators sat at the back of the room, their steady chugging providing both electricity and gravity. The floor was made of removable metal grates, granting access to the innermost workings of the ship.

"Come here, little abomination," Ruby whispered as she stepped as quietly as she could through the room, the sound of her footsteps largely masked by the noises of the various machineries surrounding her. "Step away from the sensitive equipment and show yourself. I only want to talk."

The room quieted midstep, the rumble of a generator cutting out. Ruby's next step pushed her off the ground and sent her floating through the air.

"You know," she said, just letting herself float freely for a moment. "I'm not usually one to swear, but this thing is really pushing my limits."

"It's okay," Blake assured her, "You can say it, I won't judge you."

Ruby shook her head. "No, the moment's not right."

Bending down, not that down had much meaning at the moment, she flicked a switch on her boots and was pulled to the floor. She looked at Blake, slowly making her way towards the ceiling. "Where are your magboots?" Ruby asked.

"I didn't put them on this morning," Blake answered. "Funnily enough, I wasn't expecting to get attacked by the Creature from the Black Lagoon today. A better question is, why are you wearing yours?"

Ruby shrugged. "It makes working on the engine easier."

Blake caught and steadied herself on a thin pipe that ran the length of the ceiling. "So this thing's probably back by the graviton generator, right?"

"Unless it's moved already," Ruby countered. "It is pretty fast."

"It's a place to start." She shimmied along the pipe, heading to the rear of the room. Ruby followed slowly, keeping a careful eye on her surroundings as she went.

Every blind corner or obstructed section of floor had Ruby swinging Bright Thorn around. There were too many hiding spots in this room, even with all the lights still working.

"All clear," Blake called from up ahead.

If it wasn't by the generator anymore, then where had it gotten to? Ruby took a step forward, then froze. Whatever she'd stepped on had just squished. She looked down.

Bubbling up through the holes in the grate was a thick, purplish-brown sludge that surrounded and spread out from a burst water pipe. The sludge moved in ways it shouldn't, rearing up only to slosh back down, spinning about in cyclones and eddies, and forming what looked like grasping tendrils. The more water it took in, the larger it grew.

"Blake!" Ruby shouted, "Shut off water to—" she checked the writing on the nearby pipes, since anything written on the burst pipe was now buried under an onslaught of sludge, "—pipe C126."

"Where is it?" Blake asked, not able to see Ruby from her vantage point.

"In the floor!"

Ruby didn't have time to watch Blake take action, too busy herself firing at the sludge monster while putting distance between it and herself. At first it didn't respond to her actions, only continuing to grow even as Ruby blasted off bits of it. The moment it lost its supply of water, however, it screeched.

It began moving as a single solid creature, once again black with a rainbow sheen, bits of grating stuck inside it as it burst from the floor. It was larger than Ruby now, continuously shifting and oozing as it barreled towards her, as fast as an oncoming car.

"Oh, fuck."

Ruby ran, racing to regroup with Blake. The thing following her was still fast, but all its added bulk slowed it down to below her top speed.

The moment she was in sight, Blake was firing at the monster chasing Ruby. Sustained lazer fire caused the creature to start to glow from the heat, one explosion of superheated air after another tearing into its bulk. Its wounds bubbled and burst, releasing hissing clouds of steam that diffused light, weakening successive shots.

Ruby ground to a halt at Blake's side and spun around, bayonet pointed at their foe. Blake, sword in hand, joined her.

Ruby was less durable than her girlfriend, hence her preference for mid-to-long-range combat. In close range, without her cloak, she had to stay mobile, dodging what she could and letting Blake block what she couldn't. Meanwhile Blake was taking full advantage of the lack of gravity, bouncing around the creature and attacking it from every angle, taking shots with her gun whenever she spotted an opening. Even with that benefit, however, Ruby noticed her reaction time was slower than usual.

Her mobility was enough to keep her in the fight for a bit, letting her hack of bits of the monster even as it tried to crush or suffocate her with its multitude of bulging appendages. But eventually Ruby mistimed a dodge, forgetting for a moment that she couldn't rely on gravity, and it managed to catch her in the side with a pseudopod cloaked in steam, sending her flying into a bundle of hanging wires.

She was pretty sure she'd just broken at least one rib.

Ruby was tangled up tightly in the mess of wires and getting loose required more than a little wriggling. She screeched in surprise as a few wires came loose, releasing a stream of sparks.

The sludge monster was on her moments before she was completely free. It was smaller now, loose bits of it splattered about the room, but with every bit of mass it lost, it just got that much faster.

It slammed into her, spreading its mass as if to engulf her. Right in front of her face a crack opened up, the impression of a mouth forming, jagged edges loosely resembling teeth.

A frantic, desperate idea popped into Ruby's head as the mouth drew near. Her hands were still mostly free, so she dropped Bright Thorn and instead grabbed the sparking, severed wires, plunging them into the sludge. A sustained current coursed through the creature, making it writhe and gyrate wildly. It gave one last shake, then, with a sound like the creaking hinges of hell's front door, it exploded. Bits of it went everywhere; the walls, the ceiling, Ruby's mouth. It tasted like fish stew, she decided, though it could've used a bit more salt.

She spat the sludge out, hoping just tasting it wouldn't be enough to poison her like Yang had been.

"Ruby!" Blake shouted as she flew to her side. "Are you okay?"

Ruby nodded. "I think so. I've never been so glad to have insulating overalls, though."

Blake shook her head. "Don't scare me like that."

"Sorry," Ruby apologized. Blake hugged her in response, and Ruby screamed, pushing her away. "Nope, not okay. I forgot about the broken ribs."

Blake looked about ready to smack her for that, but she somehow held back. "Okay," she said instead. "Let's get you to the med-bay with everyone else." She grabbed Ruby more gently this time, fumbling as she did, her usual grace seemingly gone.

"Hey," Ruby admonished. "You said you'd tell me if you were feeling sick."

"I'm fine," Blake assured her. "Just running a bit hot." Blake pushed off the ground and the two began floating back towards the door. "Do you feel that? Gravity's starting to increase, which means we're getting close to the planet. We'll land safely, then everyone can go to the hospital and we'll all get better. We're all fine now."

Maybe it was the steady ache of her ribs, maybe it was the drawn-out hunt and fight she'd just undergone, or maybe it was Blake's arms around her, but Ruby was suddenly feeling extremely tired. It was a struggle just to keep her eyes open. "Blake," she said. "Have I ever told you how amazing you are?"

"You could stand to say it more," she answered.

"No, seriously," Ruby said. "No matter what happens, you always step up to the challenge. You always get the job done, with a big ol' helping of beauty and grace, just 'cause you can." Her words were starting to slur, so she rushed to the point. "There's somethin' I wanna ask you. You've been doin' it for a while already, but I wanna make it official."

Blake was silent for a moment. "What do you mean?" she finally asked.

"Will you…" Ruby paused, taking a deep breath to fight off the encroaching weariness, "be my second-in-command?"

Blake sighed, then smiled. "Does this mean I get a raise?"

Ruby laughed. "No. But I can prolly get you a bigger room."

Blake quirked an eyebrow. "The only rooms bigger than mine are the pilot's and the captain's."

Ruby nodded slightly, too tired to feel embarrassment about what she was asking. "I don't take up much space. You could share my room."

Ruby didn't hear Blake's answer, unconsciousness finally making its claim on her, but she desperately hoped it was "yes".


	7. Bookstore

_Ghosts in the Closet and Other Scary Stories_. _Grimm Eclipse_. _The Lone Hatchling: A Qedem's Story of Overcoming Hardship._ _Cyber-Ninja Vs. Zombie Cats._ That one sounded silly, Ruby thought as she perused the book titles before her. She wondered if Blake would like it.

Ruby reached for the book, only to bump into someone else as she did. An apology had already slipped out of her mouth before she saw who she'd hit. It was a girl in a short, shoulderless dress and leggings, with red hair and long, donkey-like ears.

Ruby recognized her in an instant, even though she hadn't seen the girl – no, woman – in years. "Penny? Is that you?"

The woman in question startled, then peered closely back. "Friend Ruby? How fortuitous and unlikely to see you here! You've gotten so much taller!" She spoke with the same enthusiastic and precise tone that she had when Ruby had first met her.

Ruby chuckled. "Yeah, humans tend to do that." She found herself suddenly lifted in the air as strong arms wrapped her in an unbreakable grip.

"I haven't seen you in years! How have you been?"

Ruby's bones groaned in protest. "I missed you too Penny, but you're crushing me. Please let go." When her feet had returned to the ground, she took a moment to stretch out her aching rib cage. "I've been good. What are you doing out here? This system's the last place I'd expect to run into you. Did you leave Atlas again?"

Penny shook her head, her hands still on Ruby shoulders. "No, I'm actually here for work. What about you, Friend Ruby? What brings you out this far?"

"Freelance work," Ruby answered. "I finally got my own ship. Her name is Crescent Rose."

"Oh," Penny started to shake Ruby in excitement, "I'm so happy for you. That's just what you always wanted!"

"Tha-a-anks Penny," Ruby managed to get out before Penny stopped shaking her. "I actually came to this shop with my girlfriend. You should come meet her."

"That sounds wonderful!" Penny said, even as Ruby was already dragging her along by her wrist.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

It wasn't a particularly large bookstore that they'd found themselves in. It was located in downtown Evernight, the capital of Eltanin and finest (read: only) city in ten parsecs. Squeezed in-between a local furniture shop and a Mistrali restaurant, Blake had found that, despite its abysmal organizational system, Tukson's Book Trade was one of the best places to find rare and unusual books.

The store's small size meant she would've needed to be completely ignoring her surroundings to not see her girlfriend heading straight towards her with an unfamiliar woman in hand.

No, wait, Blake recognized her. She looked like Penny, the synthetic she'd met in the other universe they'd traveled to. The two of them had spoken briefly, that Penny interested in an entire species of beings like her, but aside from both being amongst the only three people still sober after the queen's reception party, they hadn't had much in common.

"Blake!" Ruby shouted, a completely unnecessary act in such a quiet place. Fortunately, the owner seemed to be the only other person in the store. "I want you to meet someone." Coming to a halt, Ruby gestured dramatically at her companion. "This is Penny. She's, like, my oldest friend."

Blake took a moment to look her over. She was a bit smaller than Ruby, with short hair wrapped up in a bow and small bag slung over her shoulder. Everything about her, save for her second set of ears and her giant smile, seemed small, giving her an overall appearance of youth. Of course, she was clearly a FAUNIS, so apparent age had nothing to do with actual age. By comparison, Ruby was no giant, and she occasionally gave off a false air of naïveté, but she never looked as childish as Penny did. Still, the two of them standing together, side-by-side and grinning like idiots, churned something in her stomach. They looked like peas in a pod, to borrow a Valean saying, like they belonged together. She fought the urge to look away.

"Pleasure to meet you," Blake said. "Ruby never mentioned you."

"What?" Ruby glanced back and forth between the two of them. "I must've mentioned her at some point."

"Not that I remember," Blake countered.

"That's alright," Penny said. "It was a long time ago, and we didn't really know each other for all that long."

"Mhmm," Ruby hummed, settling her gaze on Blake. "I met her back on Patch, when I was a little girl. It was shortly after my mom died, and Penny was just the friend I needed to help me through everything."

"Oh, you're too kind," Penny rejoined. "You helped me quite a bit too, you know. I'd only recently been freed from my previous duties, and found myself quite uncertain what to do next. I may well have remained floundering if not for your wise words."

Freed? Was she referring to the FAUNIS liberation? That would make her older than Blake, though probably not by much, given her behavior.

"Oh stop," Ruby said, blushing and wriggling in place. "I was, like, six. It couldn't have been that wise."

Blake put her arm around Ruby's shoulder and pulled her in tight, ending her squirming.

"I've been living with Ruby for almost a year now," Blake announced.

"Yes," Penny said, "Ruby mentioned you two were dating. I'm thrilled to meet the woman who's captured her heart." She grabbed Blake's free hand with both of hers and began vigorously shaking it up and down. "And another FAUNIS at that. It's such a pleasure to meet you."

Despite Blake's metallic skeleton, it still felt like this woman was about to rip her arm off in her enthusiasm. When at last she stopped, Blake had to shake her hand to regain its feeling.

A staredown commenced, Blake's stern silence versus Penny's cheerful smile, until Ruby finally broke the tension.

"So, Penny, what brings you to Tukson's?"

"I'm here to purchase a book," she replied, removing just such an item from her bag. _Enemy of Steel _was the title, the first of a very popular series of crime novels. "It's a gift for General Ironwood."

"General?" Blake asked. "Are you in the military, then?"

"That's correct. Junior Lieutenant Penny Polendina, Atlas 32nd Division, at your service." She sketched a brief salute.

Atlas had a tendency to rely on military might to maintain control of its colonies and Eltanin, new, volatile, and politically complicated as it was, was of particular interest to every kingdom. It wasn't too surprising to hear that Atlas forces were in the city, though the presence of a general was a bit unexpected. Even less expected was that Penny was a member of said military. The Atlas government had made heavy use of FAUNIS to bolster its armed forces back when they were considered property, but since their liberation, most FAUNIS had fled the military for a calmer, less deadly lifestyle. Very few had willingly returned to active service. Even less obtained a rank as high as Penny claimed to have.

"How long have you been serving?" Blake asked.

"All my life," Penny answered. "Except for a few years after the Liberation, during which I met Ruby."

Blake shook her head. She couldn't imagine willingly returning to the people that had enslaved her. "Why would you go back?" she asked. "I've talked to other FAUNIS who were forced into Atlas's military, and they all have horror stories about what they went through."

Penny's smile disappeared, leaving her looking serious for the first time since Blake had met her. "My decision to return was complicated and personal; it took years to make. But whatever you might have heard about Atlas military, there are good people there too, and they're trying to do good work." She waved her book around. "General Ironwood is a good man of fine character. He's looked out and cared for me for most of my life and he's earned my respect a thousand times over."

"Okay!" Ruby declared, looking about ready to jump between the two. "We're hitting on some pretty serious topics for a first meeting. Blake, have you found a book you like?"

Blake allowed the topic change, nodding and pulling a book she'd been eyeing off the shelf.

"Great! I've got what I want and Penny's got what she wants. Let's all go pay for our new books."

Blake continued to hold on to Ruby's shoulder, letting herself be dragged along by the smaller girl.

As their purchases were rung up by a very bemused-looking man who had probably heard every word they'd said, Ruby and Penny exchanged contact information, promising to catch up at a later date. The three left the shop together, at which point Penny went in one direction and Ruby and Blake another.

"Blake," Ruby began, looking up at her from under Blake's arm as they walked, "are you… jealous?"

Blake inhaled sharply. Is that what this was? The roiling in her stomach every time she thought of Penny being anywhere near Ruby, of the past the two had shared, was that jealousy? She'd never been jealous of someone before, always thought herself above that. She wasn't sure what to do with it now that it had reared its head.

Amusement flickered across Ruby's face. "You are, aren't you?" Ruby laughed and Blake felt herself warm. Whether in anger, embarrassment, or shame she wasn't sure, but she didn't like this particular laugh.

Ruby must've noticed, because she quickly stopped. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I shouldn't laugh at you. It's just, you have nothing to be jealous of. I'll admit I had a bit of a crush on her when I was little—" despite her attempts at reassurance, Ruby's words were a lance through Blake's core; she was finding that she very much detested the feeling of jealousy "—but she's way too old for me to be serious about that now."

That held up Blake's thought process as she tried to line up the idea of the child-like woman she'd met with this new information. "How old are we talking?" she asked.

"I never asked exactly," Ruby answered, "but she says she was one of the first FAUNIS ever made. So she's at least 200."

Blake froze in her tracks, turning her head back in a futile attempt to pick Penny out of the crowd of people on the street. She suddenly felt sick, and not because of jealousy this time. She'd just been incredibly rude to an elder. And not just any elder, but one of the oldest members of her species. After everything she'd survived, everything she must've gone through, now she had to put up with some upstart kid's misplaced emotions. She was appalled; growing up, she would've been lucky to get away with a swat of the ears for such disrespect.

She finally let go of Ruby.

"I… really screwed up, didn't I?" she said, more a statement than a question. "She was your friend, and I was so rude to her."

"If it's any consolation," Ruby offered, "I'm not even sure she noticed. Her understanding of social nuance has never been great. Too much time spent around materia, I think."

Blake shook her head. "That doesn't make it okay. I need to apologize to her."

"Well," Ruby offered, "you can come with me when I meet up with her next. As long as you promise to play nice."

Blake felt herself warm in well-deserved shame and bowed her head. "I'm sorry you had to put up with me like that."

Ruby smiled, sidling up close and planting a kiss on her cheek. "You're forgiven." She bounced backwards, holding up the brown paper bag with her purchases inside. "Hey, I got you something." She opened the bag and pulled out a book, holding it out for Blake to take. She'd been too busy glaring at Penny to notice what Ruby had gotten earlier, so she had no idea what to expect.

The cover had a cartoonish depiction of a woman dressed all in black in an alleyway, about to be attacked by a litter of decomposing streetcats. "Cyber-Ninja Vs. Zombie Cats? They had this there?" Blake was surprised to find herself tearing up a bit as she was hit by a burst of nostalgia. "This was one of the first books I ever read. I could probably quote it front-to-back I read it so many times." She flipped through the pages, looking at the illustrations at the beginning of each chapter. She could vividly remember hiding under her covers in the dead of night, reading and rereading the book by the light of the moon.

"It's a good book, then? I grabbed it on a whim, so I wasn't sure."

"Oh, it's terrible," Blake answered. "Incredibly cheesy and cliché, but in the best possible way." She flipped the book closed and wrapped Ruby in a hug. "Thank you. I don't know what I ever did to deserve you."

Ruby returned the hug. "That's easy. You were yourself, and that's amazing enough to be worth everything."


	8. Long Distance Relationship

Narrow-beam transmission from the direction of the Draconis system, picked up by a receiver on Patch, the only moon of the planet Vale. Transcription as follows:

_I went to a funeral today. I've been to funerals before, of course; Grandma's was the most recent. But this one was different. Have you ever been to the funeral of a man you killed?_

_His name was Adam. I'll save the full story of how we met him for another time, but I can give you a quick summary. In brief, we took a job from a biologist named Doctor Merlot, things got weird, Weiss and I rode a dinosaur into battle, Blake's ex-boyfriend showed up, attacked us, and then died. I don't know the full story of what happened between the two of them. I might never know, and I think I'm okay with that. There's comfort in knowing someone so well that you can predict what they'll do before they do it. A solidarity that comes with knowing someone else sees the same world you do, even if you have to borrow their eyes to see it. But the danger of knowing everything about someone is that they can no longer surprise you. Blake has an air of mystery about her, and I'll be happy if that never goes away. It's one of her more attractive features._

_Whatever mysterious past the two shared that culminated in deadly violence, Blake still felt some connection to him. Enough that she didn't want to leave him out to the elements. Or maybe she just didn't want his face to see the stars anymore. Either way, we buried him ourselves. She didn't speak the entire time we worked, nor did she glance back at his body even once. I didn't want to interrupt her thoughts, so we dug in silence. It wasn't until the hole was filled again, slightly fuller than before, that she found her words._

_Don't ever let anyone tell you that FAUNIS are unfeeling machines, because I've held their emotions in my arms and cleaned them from their face. Their emotions are just as wet, messy, and wild as ours._

_Blake seemed better after that. There was a party later that evening; we'd saved an entire town at some point during that mess, so they made us guests of honor at their celebration. Blake smiled during the night, and even let me dance with her a bit! There was a huge bonfire in the center of town and the townspeople were playing instruments and singing. After a few drinks I swept her into my arms and we danced around the fire. She laughed the whole time! It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever heard and, lit by firelight, she was the most beautiful thing in all the universe. A thought hit me as we twirled away: I could do this forever._

_I almost tripped as soon as I realized what I'd just thought. Is that what my counterpart, the queen in that other universe, felt when she danced on her wedding night?_

_I'm sitting in Crescent Rose's cockpit now. Everyone else has gone off to bed, but I couldn't sleep, so I figured I'd come talk to you. Maybe I can work through some of the thoughts these last few days have brought._

_The universe is huge and empty. You really get a feel for how big it is when you're out here. We took a job last month to escort a survey ship to one of the nearest stars; it was uneventful, but I'm sure I mentioned it to you in passing. We warped space around us until we were falling through the void too fast for light to keep up, and even then it took weeks round-trip. Lightyears of empty space broken only by a brief flash of starlight up close._

_It was a stroke of luck that humans and qedem first found each other, and their later discovery of the materia was just as unlikely. We found each other's radio transmissions and honed in on each other like missiles. But we didn't fight each other; we were too happy to have found someone else, too afraid to risk facing the boogeyman of the unknown alone. Solidarity in familiarity._

_Since then we've colonized over a hundred systems and surveyed and explored thousands more, yet we haven't found anyone else. We don't even use radio waves much anymore, so our odds of finding anyone may have actually gone down. In order to get a fourth intelligent species, we had to make them from scratch._

_And then there's the grimm. Monsters whose only goal is destruction, not unthinking but also not able to be negotiated with. I don't need to explain the grimm to you; you know them better than most. Some people say that grimm are proof that the universe is actively hostile and doesn't want us in it. That it sees life, or at least intelligent life, as something that warrants stamping out._

_I don't think that's true._

_There's another theory out there, less common since we found the grimm but one that still gets bandied about. It says that intelligent life is the universe's way of understanding itself. It's a pretty notion that posits some special place in existence for us few, special things whose atoms aligned in just such a way. Those who hold this belief, like their more pessimistic counterparts, also believe that the universe has some sense or intelligence and has noticed our existence._

_I killed a man today, watched up close as life left his eyes. Then, a few hours later, I danced and laughed and realized the depths of my love for a woman. And I don't think the universe cared about either of those things. There is no higher power watching us and judging how we live our lives, but conversely, there's no one who cares if we die. We could keep on going._

_I could do this forever, and the universe wouldn't care._

_It's been said before that nothing matters. But it's also been said that it doesn't matter that nothing matters. You don't need some great, overarching meaning to live your life._

_When I first met Blake, she asked me why I wanted to make a life in the middle of nowhere. I told her I wanted to be a hero and she latched on to that part. And it's true, I do want to be a hero. Not because I think it's inherently the right thing to do; I don't believe that there's some absolute value of justice or goodness baked into the fabric of reality. I just want to live in a world where heroes exist. I want to live in a world where people help each other not because they have to, but because they can. And the only way I know of to make that world is to play my part and live by example._

_I also told Blake that I was out here to have fun. I think Yang, thrill-seeker that she is, understands that reason better than Blake. Happiness, pleasure, love, joy, these things aren't any more meaningful than anything else. But I prefer them to the alternative. A life spent buried in good books, surrounded by friends, and elbow-deep in the guts of a ship engine, trying to figure out why it won't work _this_ month is just as valid of a lifestyle as someone who spends every waking moment fighting for the rights of people he'll never meet, even if he uses violent methods and intends to benefit himself more than the ones he helps. However, that equality in validity doesn't mean I have to take his actions lying down._

_Nihilism isn't an excuse to be an asshole. We wouldn't have made it where we are today without empathy and cooperation. Without that we'd still live in a world where the stars were out of reach, and I don't want to be stuck like that. I want to run the length of the universe and see every speck of light it holds._

_I will fight for the world I want to live in, and it doesn't matter if it doesn't matter. Because I am here. Not in spite of the universe, and not because of it either. I just am._

_I wish you were here too, mom._

…

_Do me a favor? Don't tell dad anything I just said. I don't want him to worry about me. Oh! We've decided to pay a visit to civilized space, so we'll be stopping by when we hit Vale. I look forward to seeing you and dad again soon, and introducing you to Blake in person._

_Until then, this is Ruby Rose, captain of the Crescent Rose, signing off._

_I love you._

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

CGT transmission, pre-recorded video sent from node 72.97457.4452.4698 in the Draconis system to node 55.13896.3481.7774 in the Menagerie system. Transcription as follows:

_Hi mom, hi dad._

_I know. I haven't talked to you in years, and now, when I finally reach out, I send a video instead of calling. I'm sorry._

_I wanted to let you know that I'm doing alright. I left the White Fang. Actually, I haven't been with them for a couple years now. After I cut ties I went and got a decent job on Vale that paid for food and an apartment. I made friends and started making a home for myself._

_Then I threw all of that away for a woman I'd only just met._

_God, you should meet her. She's amazing. She's smart, strong, cute, funny, heroic; basically everything I wanted Adam to be, way back when._

_You were right about him, by the way. Of course you were. You don't have to worry about him anymore, though. No one will have to worry about him ever again._

_Anyway, the woman. Her name is Ruby Rose and she's human. When I first met her, she offered me the opportunity to live in a tiny room on a small ship, where I could enjoy an inconsistent workload that occasionally involved fighting for my life against hordes of grimm. For some reason, I said yes, and it might've been the best thing I've ever done with my life._

_I've since upgraded to sharing the captain's room with her. Actually, we knocked down the wall between our rooms to make one big room, but same effect._

_Life isn't perfect, but I'm happy now. I haven't been happy in a long time. I was angry for so long, and then I was mostly scared. I thought I didn't know how to be happy anymore, but it's so easy here. I woke up this morning and Ruby was laying there next to me, curled in a ball and snoring, and it was the most perfect thing ever. If I could wake up every day and have her face be the first thing I saw, I think that'd be enough._

…

_Oh god, I can't believe I just said that._

_I've been living only in the present for years, but now I'm starting to think about the future again, and every picture in my head has her in it. I can't imagine my life without her anymore. There's a part of me I lost, carved out bit by bit by a hundred different hands, that I've managed to find again. She's given me some of her hope, to fill in the gap where mine used to be._

_When I was young, I used to believe in a higher power and concepts like right and wrong. I thought that there was some cosmic scale to be balanced, and if we just did enough good things, the universe would tip in our favor and everything would be okay. But everything I've seen since leaving Menagerie suggests otherwise. You can fill your life with one good deed after another, and you're never guaranteed to get good things in return. So after a while, I stopped expecting good things to happen to me. It seemed like all the cruelties I faced, whether from strangers or from people I trusted, were just an inevitable and unavoidable part of life._

_I kept trying to help people anyway. It wasn't until the White Fang started going too far, hurting the people we were supposed to be helping and hurting strangers as collateral damage, that I realized I couldn't keep considering myself a good person if I stayed with them. I was lost for a while, not sure where to go or what to do, and then Ruby was there, like a life preserver in a storm._

_When I'm with her, it's easier to believe that things might be okay someday. It might not ever be perfect. Maybe we can only ever trade one inequality for another. Maybe society can't function without someone on top, and someone else crushed beneath their heel. Maybe no one deserves more than they can fight for and grasp with their own two hands. But that doesn't mean you don't try to make things better. There is value in the effort. Perfection isn't a goal but a direction you choose to march in, and what's important is that you keep marching._

_I can carve out a place for myself where I can be okay, and then I can use what energy is left to help others carve their own place. I don't have to fix the world, I just have to try. I just have to be okay. And I think, someday soon, I will be._

_I'm sorry, I didn't mean to drop all that on you like that. I just wanted you to know that I'm in a good place right now. I may not be changing the world out here, but I'm helping. There are people who would be less happy and less healthy if I hadn't come out here. I'd like to tell you all about them some day._

_We're going to be taking a break soon, heading back into better-charted space. If it's okay with you, I was hoping to pay you a visit. You could meet my crewmates and I could see what you've done with Kuo Kuana since I left._

_I love you guys. Hope to hear from you soon._

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

A/N: *dies*

So, for those unaware, this story was written in response to a ladybug week prompt challenge over on tumblr. I wrote all of it in a month, at a rate of about 1000 words per day. It was the largest single writing project I've ever completed, and I'm really glad to know that I can do it. Despite the nature of the challenge not being aimed at singular narratives, I still managed to write something cohesive, showing the development of the couple's relationship over time, and I'm really proud of what I've done.

That being said, I very much plan on cutting back my daily word count following this, because that was exhausting to do. I'm not done with this world, though, and I hope to revisit it before the year ends. I've got some work to do in the background, worldbuilding and what-not, as well as other projects I'd like to work on, but I've got ideas that won't quiet themselves easily. Specifically, I want to do another eight-chapter story focusing on the freezerburn couple, and then maybe something later that's more plot-focused, as I do have the beginnings of a large-scale plot in mind.

I don't like making promises or deadlines, I'm horrendous at keeping both, but keep an eye out for more of The Last Frontier if you're interested.


End file.
